Escape Me
by Enchantable
Summary: Uryuu and Tatsuki connect behind the safety of their masks at a masquerade ball. When the time comes to take off their masks, neither can bring themselves to do it. Problems arise when it becomes clear that neither can stop thinking about the other
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so first off, is spell Ishida as Uryuu, not as Uryu. You can do it either way but I picked Uryuu in acknowledgement of the translation and accent mark I can't do. **

**Also this takes place at Halloween at a lavish Masquerade party i have no reasonable explanation for. I'm thinking this is going to be about 3-5 chapters, kind of the same length as Almost Lovers. **

* * *

Fingering the edge of her dress, Tatsuki Aswari could not help but realize that this was a terrible _terrible_ idea.

It was not just that she was at a costume party, which she was. It was far more that aside from the woman next to her, she had no idea who anyone was. She would have thought a piece of fabric would not have made it impossible to see someone's identity but the truth was that it was not simply a piece of fabric. It was fabric and lighting and the cloths she knew her friends would never be caught dead in had it not been the fact it was Halloween. Orihime had insisted that the moment they walked through the doors they split up, a decision that Tatsuki was seriously regretting agreeing to go along with.

"Orihime I don't think--" she began.

"Tatsuki you're gonna be fine!" Orihime said with a smile, "okay! I'll see you later!"

Tatsuki watched Orihime run off with a sinking feeling churning in her stomach. This idea was even worse than when she had originally agreed to it. All she wanted to do was snatch her best friend back and leave. She hated parties like this, and yet here she was, stuck at one. Part of her told her to leave, to just go home. She could lie about it all later. But the larger part of her demanded she stayed. She was going to go through the archway ahead, into the ballroom and she was going to attend this party. The nerves in her stomach increased tenfold at the thought of putting one foot in front of the other.

So that was exactly what she did.

Tatsuki was many things, but she never had been and never would be a coward.

Stepping through the archway, she stepped out of her regular life and into something that looked like it belonged in a dream. Gold and white decorated the room, a canvas to the brilliant costumes. These were not like any costumes she had seen before. These were works of art, living, breathing masterpieces that moved with grace she knew she could never fully replicate. She was sure that Ichigo himself could be standing next to her and she would not have recognized him. Tatsuki shook her head, trying to clear it but found it impossible. The warmth of the room, the glow of the lights, the array of colors, it was all overwhelming. For a moment she felt as though she had a neon sign above her that said she did not belong, as she caught eyes darting towards her and then returning to their partners.

It was a moment until she realized the eyes were mostly male.

She knew her cheeks were flushed where her mask exposed them at the exact same time she cursed her best friend for picking her dress for the party. Orihime's was a creation of white and gold silk that seemed to have been made for her. It hid what needed to be hid and allowed the rest to be displayed to its full potential. It had taken her a moment, maybe two, to find the thing. Tatsuki, on the other hand, was far more picky. Every dress was too frilly, too flouncy, too--too wrong for her. It had taken her the whole day before she had announced furiously she was going home and Orihime had found the dress she currently found herself poured into.

"Its a masquerade," she muttered, echoing what Orihime had joyously called to her,"no-one's supposed to know its you."

She told herself she agreed to the dress to get out of more shopping, not because of how it looked. Now she was wishing she had stuck around a bit longer to find a dress that was a bit more successful at telling people who she was: that she was someone they didn't want to mess with. This dress was clearly conveying the wrong message.

The dress was blue and green and gold, held up by narrow straps. The fabric was textured as well, it was crepey, the dress looking as though someone had stolen a wave to create the dress. The bust was low enough to expose the upper swells of her breasts and the back sat well below her shoulder blades. Though snug on her bodice, the dress fell to the floor in a wave of fabric. The dress was sheer, though, the slip underneath covered what needed to be. But it left most of her legs bare, if one looked hard enough, something that people seemed more than willing to do.

Her hair had been pulled back and the mask on her face was silver. The only other pieces of color in her ensemble were the ruby earrings dangling from her lobes and the red shoes on her feet. Lower than most heels, they still caught her eye as they peeped out from underneath her dress. But the kicker of the ensemble was the fact she was in makeup, the one thing she knew would really hide her identity. The most masking part of that was the red on her lips. The ruby lipstick had tasted odd when she had put it on but the transformation had been instant. Between the dress, the mask and the lipstick, she looked nothing like herself.

Taking a deep breath, Tatsuki forced herself further into the room, trying not to feel as if she was an outsider. She had wanted to look at least partially like everyone else but now she would be happy just to not be stared at like some piece of meat. Hopefully another woman would come in and their attention would be directed elsewhere. Though trying to not to be aware of the eyes on her, she glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes caught those of a man standing across the room at the moment his eyes found hers.

Dressed all in black, he should not have caught her eye. In fact, she didn't think he would have had he not been glancing at her. She looked at him more carefully. Though dressed in black, the suit he wore was not cut like the others. It was more snug on the bottom. The top half was cut longer in the back, more like the old fashioned frock coats she had seen in school books. A white cravat was on his chest, held there by a silver object that looked like a cross and a circle. His mask was not black though but rather a pale blue, his eyes beneath it, the color of the midnight sky. Tatsuki swallowed thickly, her fingers tightening in the fabric of her gown as she quickly looked away from his eyes before glancing back up once more.

Part of her wanted him to look over at her, part of her wanted him to disappear back into the crowd. Part of her wanted him to come over. What troubled her the most was that she wasn't sure which she really wanted to happen.

Uryuu glanced up again, just to make sure he was not imagining things. But no, the woman in the wave like dress glanced up at him again before looking down, her cheeks still stained a faint pink. He had seen her across the room, her dress separating her from the rest of the crowd. He was always one for frills and ruffles but the sight of such a deceptively simple dress, his eyes had been caught. He found himself glancing over twice at her. He simply hadn't expected her to look back at him. But she had, her eyes meeting his before she blushed darker and looked down again. He found himself intrigued, despite the fact he had sworn he was only going to stay for five minutes.

He had been dragged there, unsurprisingly. And he had sworn he was going to stay long enough to have enough evidence to give a believable lie the next day. He had donned his mask and gone into the room, looking around at the people gathered there. Unfortunately some of the costumes had been so intriguing he had wandered deeper into the room, his eyes effortlessly finding the special stitches and fabrics. And then he had glanced up and seen the woman in the dress that looked like she had stolen the sea. It was so simple, deceptively simple, and yet he had found himself drawn to it. To the woman who wore it. And she had looked back at him. Uryuu was not entirely sure what to do with that.

Tatsuki turned around, her cheeks burning. She had to find Orihime. Or someone. Someone who could tell her what the hell she was supposed to do. Was she supposed to let him come to her? Was she supposed to walk over to him? Tatsuki glanced over her shoulder to see him moving slowly through the crowd. He was coming over. Her feet moved automatically towards him. It seemed silly to just stand there and wait for him to come to her. As he approached she realized how tall he was. Taller than her. He also moved very fluidly, navigating the crowd rather seamlessly. His hair was held off his face, in a style she couldn't remember seeing worn by the boys in her class. But then again, her hair was pulled back and pinned so much she knew it didn't look anything like she normally did. Finally they reached each other.

And kept walking right by.

Tatsuki inwardly groaned as her feet took her right by the boy. She didn't know if he stopped, only that she kept going with no destination in mind except far away. She had no idea what she would have said to him anyway and the last thing she wanted to do was make an outright fool of herself. So she moved into the crowd of people milling around and hoped that maybe if they swallowed her whole, she could pretend it was the ground.

Uryuu's feet slowed as he reached the girl but she walked right past him, authority in her every step. His own feet paused after she moved past him as he turned around to watch her walk away. He had been sure she was walking towards him, their eyes had met after all. But then she just kept walking right by. In spite of that, as Uryuu watched her move quickly through the crowds, he could not help but be amused by what happened. For the first time all night, he felt like smiling as he watched her move past him. Uryuu was a man rarely intrigued, but that was exactly what he found himself. Very _very_ intrigued.

He watched her as she made her way through the crowd until he lost sight of her. For a moment he considered leaving. But there was something about her, something that made him move through the crowd to find her. She wasn't hard to spot at all, the dress she wore was ingrained in his memory. He found her quite easily, off in one of the quieter sections of the room, standing by the windows with her eyes out on the city. For a moment he considered turning around and walking away. But he did not. He moved forward, he moved towards her.

Though her back was to the room, Tatsuki heard someone approaching. A quick glance behind her and she felt her eyes widened.

It was the man in the blue mask.

He was too close for her to leave that quickly. Not to mention the only place to go was back into the thick of the party and that was the last place she ever wanted to be. So she had no choice, no time to make one either as he walked over to where she was standing. Tatsuki gulped and turned around, looking out the window longingly at the world outside as she heard him approach. Finally he was nearby, just past her right side. Before she could think about leaving again, he spoke.

"I suppose you do not like parties like this," he said.

Uryuu watched as her spine became erect. He was just glad that he was not going to have to grab her, he thought for a moment she was going to throw herself out the window. But she didn't Instead she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and turned around to face him.

He hadn't realized how short she was.

Not tiny, but she was certainly petite. Even so he could see the definition in her arms, the way she held herself. She held herself like someone who was aware of their body. He would have guessed she was a dancer or a fighter, though from the way she raised her chin to look at him, defiance in her eyes, he decided if it came down to it he'd put his money on fighter. She looked up at him, as if she was used to looking into the eyes of men taller than her.

"Parties like this? No, can't stand them," she said, "not that its not fun to be someone else for a night," she added quickly.

"Oh?" he looked at her, intrigued, "do you not like who you are?"

"No, its not that--" she sighed, trailing off, feeling unsettlingly feminine.

"What is it?" he asked. She looked at him.

"I have no idea who you are."

They both knew that was the truth. Neither had any idea who the other was, that was the whole point of the party. Even if behind their masks they were still the same people, the masks made it seem as though they were not. To everyone else in the room, she was the girl in the wave dress and he was the man in the black suit. Nothing more, nothing less. At the moment, to each other, that was all they were. And for some reason, the fact was oddly comforting.

"I have no idea who you are either," he said, "but I don't like these parties any more than you do. You look like you could use an ear," he said, "and so could I."

"Oh really?" Tatsuki put her hands on her hips, "why do you need an ear?"

"I just found out the girl who I was in love with for years will never love me back," he said, "there's another man," Tatsuki lowered her hands, "its like," he shook his head, "its like she's the sun. But this other man, he makes her shine in a way that none of us ever could."

"Sounds nauseating," Tatsuki said.

"It is," Uryuu agreed, "but I'm trying to be happy for her. Even if all I want to do is kill the guy with my bare hands."

"Try it," Tatsuki advised, "maybe it will work."

"It won't," he said, "believe me, I've tried."

"Bummer," she said, "well if it makes you feel any better, I got dragged to this thing by my only friend in the world right now."

"Only one? Did you kill the others with your bare hands?" he asked, his tone dry.

"No," she said with a smile, "I wish," she added, her voice turning serious, "no," she took a breath, "they left me," he looked at her, "just left. Never told me why, not really. They just went away. And you know what the real kicker of it is?" he shook his head, "they came back. Like everything was okay now. Like they hadn't just up and gone when I needed them the most. You know, I'd been there for everything. Every tear, every missed class, everything. I was there. And then, just suddenly, I was nothing. Nothing but someone to be put aside."

"That sounds terrible," he said, "friends should be people you can depend on."

"Yeah, people who don't make you wear things like this," she said motioning to her dress.

Uryuu wished he could find the words to tell her that she looked pretty in that dress. But they seemed to fail him. It was so easy to talk to her, easy to tell her what he hadn't been able to tell anyone else. And it seemed as though the same was true for her. He doubted she had told her friends what she felt like, that it felt as though she had abandoned them, anymore than he had told the people he cared about how it felt to have the girl he loved choose someone else.

"Do you dance?" she asked abruptly.

"No," he said automatically.

"Great," she said grabbing his hand, "lets go."

Uryuus eyes widened as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the dance floor. He quickly caught up with her, but allowed her to keep his wrist in her grasp. She marched them onto the dance floor with determination that made him think that she did not really know how to dance either. But, surprisingly enough, when they got there she turned to him on the outskirts of the floor and swept a critical eye over him as the song finished and people stopped to clap politely. The beat began, a medium tempo song and she stepped close to him, putting one hand on his shoulder.

"Now, you put your hand--" she began.

That was as far as she got before his hand was at her waist, the other grasping her free hand and he began to move them across the floor to the music. She followed his lead precisely, while maintaining the illusion that she was doing nothing more than floating.

"You said you couldn't dance," she said.

"I said I did not dance," he told her, "not that I couldn't. My father insisted I learn."

"My parents as well," she said, "lessons?"

"Private," he replied, "you?"

"Private. I wouldn't have been caught dead at a dance studio."

He smiled at that as they continued to move along the floor, lapsing in and out of an oddly easy silence. Both knew they had clues to who the other was, both were aware it would probably not take much to figure out who the other was. But neither felt the desire to do anything of the sort. It was nice, to pretend that they were perfect strangers. That before their eyes met they hadn't ever met before. As Uryuu moved them to the music he looked down at her and asked another question, though it was not a fight to strike up the conversation once more.

"So you would never be caught dead in a dance studio," Uryuu said looking down at her, "would you be caught dead dancing?"

"Not without a mask," she said, "or, at the very least a reason. I never understood people who danced for no reason."

"What are your thoughts on a victory dance?" he asked.

"Stupid," Tatsuki replied promptly, "and very telling as well. If you have to gloat, then you didn't really win the fight at all."

"How very confucian of you," he said.

Tatsuki raised an eyebrow at that. Most people their age in school didn't know confucian philosophy, not enough to identify it in everyday life. The boy she was dancing with was a riddle of things, he was a puzzle. Part of her was glad she didn't know who he was. She imagined if she had already had a preconceived notion of him, she would be questioning everything. Now, pretending he was nothing more than stranger, it was nice to meet someone who was new. Who seemed different than the boys she knew. For the first time in a while Tatsuki found she didn't want to hit him.

As they moved, Tatsuki slowly became aware of just how nice it felt to be dancing with him. She kept up with the beat and his steps, following him like the lessons had trained her to. But what felt nice was the subtle things. The way his hand felt on her back, not too high, not too low. And he did not let it just rest, his fingers were firm against her skin, warm against her skin. His other hand was warm in hers as well and oddly smooth. She had felt his other hand when she grabbed his wrist and that was calloused. Though she found it odd, she pushed it aside, trying to focus instead on something else.

But all that came to mind was that she did not really mind that people were looking at her anymore.

Uryuu was also rather surprised at the girl he danced with. Not just that she danced rather well, but also how she danced. She clearly was trained but the way she moved so naturally, it was clear she was trained in another kind of movement, one that required her to be quick on her feet. From the callouses on her hands, he was certain she was a fighter. Quickly he pulled her a bit closer and pushed her out, turning his wrist. She seamlessly spun around before coming back to where he was, her hand going back to her shoulder. She did not miss a beat throughout the move, executing it perfectly.

"So I take it you are a fighter," he said.

"I'm a _damn_ good fighter," she replied, "what about you? Do you fight?"

"When the occasion calls for it," he told her.

She laughed outright at that. She could imagine a boy who danced and lost girls to others would only fight when the occasion called for it. He looked at her curiously.

"I'm just wondering what kind of occasion calls for it. I'm guessing you're a fight-only-to-save-the-world kind of guy."

Uryuu smiled. That as exactly the kind of guy he was. The calmest of the friends, that was what Ulquiorra had called him. That was what he was. At least, on the outside.

"My teacher was very adamant about control," he said, "learning when not to fight was just as important as learning how to."

"So I'm guessing you don't enter com--you don't spar," she said quickly.

"I did not say I fought hand to hand," he told her.

"So you're a weapons kind of guy," she said. He nodded, "so tell me, Mr. Weapons, what happens when they're all gone?"

"Punch the opponent, go and get them back," he deadpanned.

"Well you sound like quite the tactical genius," she said.

He smiled but didn't tell her she was wrong. Tatsuki had a feeling she wasn't. He seemed like the kind of guy that could plan an attack and execute it in a battle. They were quiet once more as they continued to move to the next song, though it was a much slower one. The mood on the dance floor slowly became romantic. Despite the company, Tatsuki felt herself slightly disgusted by the couples swaying side by side next to them.

"Its kind of silly to make such an artificial moment," she said.

"I agree," Uryuu replied, "though I'm sure there are photographs to prove you wrong."

"Yeah, I know," she said, "I always thought it'd be more fun for something spontaneous to happen."

"Like dancing with a stranger?" Uryuu said, surprised at his own boldness.

"Yes," she said, matching his tone.

He smiled at that, a gesture she could not help but return. He had a nice smile as well, one that seemed to show more in his midnight eyes then it did on his lips.

The rest of the night was little more than a blur. It seemed like no time at all passed to either of them. They spoke, they danced, but neither revealed any superficial detail that would lead the other to realize their identity outright. But as time wore on, it got closer to midnight, when the party goers would take off their masks. Though they kept up the conversation, their eyes found their way to the clock more and more. Finally, the music stopped.

"Ladies and Gentlemen--" the man began.

Tatsuki turned to her mysterious partner. She had sworn never to be a coward, fought not to be one. But she had never been more scared to let someone see her face in her entire life. This guy, he knew that she had taken dance lessons, that she felt abandoned, that it was her in this get up. He would know that and when she took off her mask, he'd know who everyone else thought she was. She couldn't do that. She couldn't have anyone associating who she let herself be tonight with who she was the rest of the time. He looked down at her as she took a deep breath and raised her eyes to his.

"You know, I, I don't think we should do this," she took a step back, "so, um, yeah. I'll see you around--if I know you. But whatever, because, you know, we won't know--" she shook her head, "I'll see you around."

Picking up the blue of her skirts she turned and pushed her way through the crowd towards the exit. Uryuu watched her run, knowing it was hopeless for him to he was not sure he wanted to go after her. He did not think that her knowing who he was was that brilliant of an idea either. She knew things about him now--things he did not want anyone knowing. He could have followed her, but it would mean nothing. She did not want him to know who she was and he was going to have to respect that. He could not force her to reveal anything, no matter how much he wanted to hear who she was from _her_ lips. Even if he did catch her, it would mean nothing.

She would already be gone.

"Goodbye," Uryuu murmured.

All around him, people pulled off their masks, laughing at the people they were in the company of. Uryuu did not reach for his, allowing the illusion to remain. He had no-one he particularly wanted to show his face to anyway. Down the street, Tatsuki leaned against the building, catching her breath. Reaching up she yanked her mask off, the ribbons snapping at the harsh gesture. Holding the fabric in her hands, she looked at the lace and squeezed her eyes shut.

If this was a fairy tale then being the Princess officially sucked.

* * *

**So the Confucius reference is to the principle of self betterment. Where the ideal person finds what they are looking for within themselves rather than in the outside world. . **

**This is my first Uryuu/Tatsuki fic. **

**Please review! You read the chapter, I hope you liked it! Please let me know! But don't be flaming about any other couples. I don't care. Focus on this awesome crack! ship!**

**Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Too tall.

Too short.

Too---well his hair was blond.

Swearing under her breath, Tatsuki stormed over to her locker and furiously did the combination.

That one had facial hair.

Right hair color, but his bottom lip had a ring though it.

It took her three times to get the numbers right. Finally accomplishing it, she reached in and grabbed her books for the first class of the day. Looking into the darkness of her locker, Tatsuki sighed and focused her eyes ahead. Maybe if she stayed staring into the darkness, she wouldn't notice the boys walking around. If she didn't notice the boys walking around, maybe she wouldn't keep trying to imagine what they would look like in a mask and a black suite. Maybe if she kept trying not to look at them, she wouldn't keep trying to figure out who had been the one she had chickened out and not shown her face to. Maybe, just maybe. Then she saw someone out of the corner of her eye but immediately dismissed the brunette.

"Damn it!" Tatsuki slammed her locker behind her, storming down the hallway.

"Bad night?" Orihime asked, falling into step alongside her.

"That obvious?" Tatsuki growled.

"Uh huh," Orihime nodded, "Oh I'm so sorry!" she cried, "I thought you'd have fun! I wouldn't have left you if I'd known you'd be so miserable."

Inwardly Tatsuki groaned. This was why she hadn't wanted to come to school today. Because she couldn't manage to lie to Orihime, not with any kind of sucess. Just like she thought, Orihime had seen her mood instantly and apologized because she thought her actions meant Tatsuki had a terrible night. And then Tatsuki was going to be forced to explain that no, in fact, she did not have a terrible night. In fact, she had a wonderful night. She had just managed to go and fuck it up at the end. Unfortunately the fact of the matter was that she did have a wonderful night. A wonderful night and yet he didn't want anyone to know. Especially not her best friend. Orihime would go starry eyed and girly and then Tatsuki would probably have to endure some horribly demeaning feminine activity. It was so nauseatingly feminine, torturing herself up because of a boy, that Tatsuki was sure she _really_ was going to be sick. But what she could not do apparently was lie to Orihime.

"I had a good time," she said finally, praying that Orihime would just take her words.

"Then why are you so upset?" Orihime questioned, obviously not buying it.

"Its nothing," Tatsuki mumbled.

Out of the corner of her eye, Tatsuki saw her friend bite her lip and despite everything she wanted to hide she felt guilt churn through her. She hated when she saw Orihime upset, hated the helplessness she saw in her friend's face. It was a defense mechanism, she knew that. Something that had been ingrained in her from the moment she had put on her first pair of gloves when she was a child. Protect. You had to protect the people you cared about. Fighting was a way of protecting, it was a way of making sure that the people you loved didn't suffer. Not if you could prevent it. Tatsuki considered herself a protector, she had _always_ considered herself a protector. But lately there had been events happening that had made her think perhaps she was not, not in the way she had considered herself once. But even with those external circumstances, she had always fought as hard as she could, done everything she could to protect the people she cared about. She had never consciously tried to hurt them--not unless they deserved it like Ichigo.

"I'm fine," Tatsuki said quickly.

Never before that moment, anyway.

She saw Orihime nod, her lips closing as she did not press the subject. Stuffing the guilt down as far as she could, Tatsuki concentrated on keeping her eyes ahead as they walked to class, forcefully reigning in her gaze as she saw people out of the corner of her eye. She was not going to let them get to her. She was not going to be some overly feminine idiot who batted her eyelashes and dreamed about boys who she had spent one night talking to. Tatsuki glanced over at the clock, dismayed that she only had a few minutes before class began.

She really _really_ needed to hit something.

The rest of their friends were already in the room, standing talking. Orihime went over to them but Tatsuki didn't know if she had the stomach for it. Honestly she was more than a little certain that if she was near them and she heard ichigo's voice she was going to have something to hit before class began. Dropping her bag onto the desk, she sat down, leaning her head against the chair.

"Rough night, Arisawa?"

The question was asked with a dry tone that Tatsuki was certain she would recognize anywhere. Sitting next to her, his eyes on the book in his hands, was Uryuu Ishida. Tatsuki groaned inwardly. She knew it was her mood that was grating her nerves, not him. But the last thing in the world she needed was for Uryuu Ishida, the fighting tailor, to find out what happened last night. She didn't want her best friend to know, why the hell would she want anyone else too? Especially a boy. Tatsuki had a reputation to uphold and explaining her feminine side was contradictory to that entire agenda.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said. Uryuu made a sound in the back of his throat, "what about you, you got stories to tell?"

"Hardly," Uryuu replied, turning the page in his book, his eyes remaining on the words as Tatsuki's remained on the ceiling.

Uryuu did not have anything to say on the events of the previous night.

All morning he had been pushing any thoughts on the matter as far down as he could. They were not important. The woman he had spent the night with had gone off, not wanting to reveal herself to him. There was no sense in dwelling on it since she had made it clear she did not want to show herself. Uryuu was very good at putting the needs of others before his own. It was a talent he had honed out of many years of necessity. The greater good was more significant than what he wanted. The world needed fighters so he had decided he needed to be a Quincy, even if the little boy had only wanted to stay with his father. The Shinigami had needed a Quincy so he had gone with them, even if it went against what he believed. Orihime needed someone else--the list went on. His own desires were nothing more than a moot point.

Besides his feelings would do no good, they were impractical, not to mention irrational. They were the reason he had not slept the night before, laying awake looking at the ceiling and trying to clear his mind--though it kept going back to the ocean, to the waves. His thoughts were the reason he had considered not wearing his glasses, just so he could reduce the world to blurs and not have to deal with the desire look for the girl. But he had put on his glasses and only looked once. Or twice, twice at the very most and only at girls who had short dark hair that looked like it might have been just long enough to pull back and still have a few strands pull free by the end of the night.

"Did you go to that costume thing last night?" Tatsuki asked turning her head to look at him.

"Yes," Uryuu said, lowering the book and returning her gaze, "I decided to go," Tatsuki snorted.

"Yeah, right," she said, "dragged is more like it."

"Why would you assume that?" he asked.

"Somehow I just can't see you willingly going to a party like that," she said.

Uryuu frowned as he looked at her, not entirely sure what she was saying.

"Did you go?"

"Yeah," she said.

"Willingly I assume," he said. Tatsuki raised her eyebrow, "you do not strike me as the kind of girl who would let someone force her into doing something she did not want to."

Tatsuki let out a breath. He had her there. She hadn't wanted to go, but she had gone--more for Orihime than for herself. But she had gone. And she couldn't deny it either, not after Uryuu had just said what he did. So instead she crossed her legs at the ankle and titled her chin upwards.

"I went," she said, eyes focusing once more on the ceiling, "it sucked."

Uryuu said nothing, his eyes focusing on the book instead. Both fell silent as they went back to what they were doing. The silence surrounding them was comfortable. Neither had ever really had a problem with it, though Uryuu was quiet by nature and Tatsuki was quiet by training. But while Uryuu sat perfectly still, movement restricted to the turning of the pages and the rise and fall of his chest, Tatsuki fidgeted. Little things, the pursing of her lip as she exhaled, the twitch of her top foot as she moved it to some invisible beat, the hands that she moved even as she had them crossed under her chest. She was silent only in that her lips were not forming words or sounds. Uryuu on the other hand was genuinely quiet and still. Their eyes met and before both of them looked back up at the ceiling.

"Damn it, isn't it time for class yet? What the hell is taking the teacher so long?!"

"We have five minutes before class, Arisawa--"

"Don't call me that," Tatsuki snapped, "my name's Tatsuki. We've known each other long enough for you to call me by my name--like _everyone_ else does."

Uryuu felt heat on his cheeks at her words. It was like a demand and a retort all rolled into one and clearly it was an order. He didn't know why, despite the fact he now lived alone, he still upheld his manners. Maybe simply because he had been so ingrained with their importance he had never seen a reason to fall back on his youth like the other people he knew. He upheld his manners. And manners said that he should address her with some kind of formality, despite the fact he had known her for a very long time. Tatsuki it seemed just never truly cared what people called her, so he had continued to call her by her last name. To address her with some sort of formality. But apparently she did not like it when he did such a thing and despite his manners telling him calling her 'Tatsuki' was, well, wrong, he also felt an odd sort of guilt.

"I apolo--"

"God, Uryuu, you don't have to apologize. Just stop. If 'Inoue' over there can call me Tatsuki, so can you."

Uryuu glanced at the front of the room, his eyes automatically draw to the group up there. Tatsuki looked at him before she too focused her gaze ahead. Orihime was laughing at something Ichigo had said, her eyes closed and her head titled back with mirth. Both saw the same thing. The slope of her throat, the sway of her hair, even the slight crookedness of her school tie. It all led to the image of perfection, of some sort of unattainable, eathreal beauty that had been magically turned human. Pygmalion's statue come to life. Both hated themselves, just a little, for looking at her and seeing that. Seeing what they thought she was instead of what she truly was.

"This teacher needs to move her ass," Tatsuki said, "I can't take this day lasting any longer than it absolutely has to."

"I agree," Uryuu said.

Tatsuki looked over at him sharply, her eyes narrowed. Uryuu knew that look, it was the look Tatsuki gave people she was ready to kill. Quickly Uryuu ran through what he had just he said was that he agreed with her statement. He hadn't even called her Arisawa. But the more he looked at her the more he realized that the look was not just that narrowed, angry look that she gave to people she would put in an inordinate amount of pain, her eyes were looking over him, as if she was looking for something in his face. Looking for something, but for what he was not sure.

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking at her.

Tatsuki looked at him sharply. There was something about the way he said that, something about the way he gave voiced his agreement, it was oddly familiar. Familiar in that she was sure she had heard it before, somewhere. She just had no idea _where_ she had heard it before. She realized he was looking at her, concern in his eyes about the same time she realized that she was not just looking at him, she was staring at her cheeks burn as she looked at him, but she refused to turn her gaze away. He had seen that she was looking at him and now he was looking at her.

Tatsuki wasn't going to back down from a fight.

Even a staring contest.

"Fine. Why are you staring at me?"

"Me?" Uryuu gaped at her, "you were--" he stopped himself, reigning in the indignant voice that shouted she had started at him first

Instead he looked back down at his book.

"Ha!" Tatsuki said triumphantly. Uryuu looked at her, "you looked away first," Tatsuki told him smugly.

"You were the one who looked at me," he said pointedly, before he could stop himself. His pride rising to the occasion.

Tatsuki gritted her teeth together.

He had her there.

He looked at her almost smugly and she saw red. Before she could tell him what an idiot he was being the teacher finally walked in. Students quickly ran for their seats, sitting down as fast as they could as she moved to the front of the classroom. Tatsuki let out a breath and turned her gaze forward, towards where the teacher was as Uryuu placed the book he was reading back in his bag, pulling out the notebook he needed for their first class of the day. Tatsuki turned her gaze to the clock on the wall, watching in dismay as the numbers ticked by with impossible slowness.

"This is going to be the longest day ever," she groaned.

**

* * *

**

"Renovations?! What the _fuck_?!"

Martial arts bag over her shoulder, Tatsuki stared at the sign posted on the door of her Karate club. The note said they were closed for renovations. Renovations, on the one day that she needed to hit something more than any other day. And they were closed. Tatsuki swore again audibly, wishing the letters on the note would disappear. Or at the very least they would rearrange themselves to say 'come in and take out your aggression Tatsuki.' But neither of those things occurred. The note remained and it still said the exact same thing. Furiously turning on her heel, Tatsuki walked away from the door, storming down the street.

The pounding in her ears was so loud she barely heard anything else.

Though raw anger was hardly an acceptable excuse, the fact was she barely heard anything. Her eyes burned, the anger was too much. She couldn't feel anything. Not the wind, not the sun, certainly not the Hollow that was rampaging through the city. Tatsuki was not one to be distracted. She liked to think that even in her most emotionally confused moments she was able to keep some sort of a level head. But the truth was that like any person, Tatsuki did have moments when she did fall prey to her emotions, when she could think of nothing but how terrible everything was and how the one thing she had wanted to do that day, the promise of which had been the only thing keeping her even moderately sane, she could not do. Furiously she turned the corner.

And walked right into something that looked as though it belonged in a nightmare.

Cars were overturned, people were running and screaming in every direction. At the center of it all was a massive creature, one she had become unfortunately accustom to seeing occasionally. This one was the tallest she had ever seen, easily towering over the buildings that it stood nearby. Tatsuki's eyes widened as she looked up at the thing, watching in horror as it threw back its head and roared, one of its hands reaching out and slamming into the building, chunks of steel, plaster and glass flying everywhere. Tatsuki was not sure which way to move, towards the monster or away from it.

"Get out of my town!"

Her eyes went to the building. Ichigo was standing there in the weird black cloths he sometimes wore. Tatsuki raised an eyebrow at the sight of the massive sword he was wielding. The Hollow blindly turned its eyeless head towards him. Ichigo kicked off the roof towards the monster, his sword pulling back before he threw himself forward, slicing his blade towards the monster. It bit deeply into its shoulder, dragging it down almost to the point where the monster's arm was severed. From the curse she heard, it was clear that wasn't his intention. As if he had landed on the ground and not in the middle of the sky, Ichigo kicked off once more, launching himself towards the Hollow.

The monster careened backwards, hitting the building with enough force to make the ground tremble underneath her feet. Tatsuki's eyes widened as she turned her head towards the next building. Made mostly of glass, it splintered as the other building exploded. Tatsuki looked up, watching as the building began to make the most terrible sound. She turned her head as the Hollow exploded a moment before she turned around and saw the building begin to sway. Tatsuki gasped and took a step backwards but the swaying stopped, the building groaning as it began to come down. Tatsuki froze, staring at the building as the shadow of it came towards her.

Tatsuki turned and ran. Survival instinct kicked in and she obeyed. She had to get out of there. She had to run from building even if she wasn't ever going to make it far away. She ran with all the adrenaline in her, not thinking about how stupid it was she was in the situation in the first place. Her lungs burned from the dust from the other building that had already fallen and her ankle was aching from the impact. But she ignored all of that, blinking tears out of her eyes from the burning air.

"Arisawa!"

Out of the corner of her eye she saw something coming towards her. Her eyes widened as she saw a sight she never thought she ever would. Uryuu Ishida was coming towards her, crouched on what seemed to be a surfboard of pure light. He moved towards her quickly, one hand extended towards her. Tatsuki's immediately threw out her own hand as he caught up to her. She was sure he wasn't going to catch her, Especially not as she felt the ground lurch, the building coming down. But still, she had to try. Their fingers reached for each other,straining before Tatsuki moved closer and he angled the light he rode towards her. Her fingers brushed the fabric of his sleeve before his hand brushed against hers.

He moved forward, his hand grabbing her wrist firmly, her own reciprocating the movement.

He tugged and she found herself standing in front of him on the platform, her back pressed against his chest. Reacting purely on instinct, Tatsuki dropped his wrist, her arms locking around the chest behind her. The light soared upwards, carrying them both from the building as it crashed below them. Tatsuki barely saw it. All she saw was the sky that stretched endlessly ahead of them as the ground beneath them fell away. Pressing herself against the man behind her and holding as tightly as she could was all she could do not to shriek like a child--not that she thought she could have formed words at the moment.

Behind her, Uryuu struggled to control the _Hirenkyaku_ they were riding. He had seen the girl below them standing perfectly still, looking at them and the fight they were engaged. Between the Hollow, the building that was coming down and Ichigo's massive Spiritual Pressure and tendency to overuse it, he had watched as the second building started to come down. He had looked down to see who was going to be caught but the only person down there was that girl. It wasn't until she had taken off running for all she was worth, not until he got closer to her, that he saw who exactly it was.

But the problem was that once he saw who it was, he had reacted.

There was no reason for his heart to speed up or for his throat to catch. Honestly when he had reached for her hand, he was sure his own palm was so sweaty, it wouldn't reach hers. He had no idea why he was reacting this way either. it was just Tatsuki, the tomboyish girl who he had just sort of gotten along with. Who griped about almost everything he did. Who liked hand to hand combat while he was a weapons guy. Who was loud and obnoxious and usually downright rude. Who couldn't have sat still for an extended period of time if her very existence depended on it. The girl that was currently holding him, her back pressed against his chest as he carried them off to safety.

"Hold on," he called to her over the roar of the wind as he took them towards the nearest, stable building that didn't have Ichigo Kurosaki on it. Given her state he had a feeling that taking her there was only going to lead to her beating one or both of them.

He landed, the power vanishing from under their feet. Even with it gone, Tatsuki remained against him, her arms locked around his torso, obviously petrified of what had just happened. Without the adrenaline, without the world going crazy around them, Uryuu became even more aware of the fact that there was a girl pressing herself against him. A girl who, for all her tomboyishness, actually smelled rather nice. Uryuu felt heat on his cheeks as he looked at the unruly hair that just reached his shoulder. He was holding his own hands very carefully, just so that they did not touch hers. But if she remained locked like that for much longer he wasn't sure what he was going to do. When it became clear she had no sign of moving, he cleared his throat.

"Arisawa," he began.

"My hands are stuck," she told him, voice strained.

He turned his head to see what she meant. Her hands were locked around each other, the grip white knuckled. He imagined they weren't truly stuck, she was just terrified by what had happened.

"Alright," he said, "I'm going to help you," he told her.

Keeping his movements slow, he reached around and grasped her hands, coaxing them open. They did, slowly and jerkily, but they opened. Carefully he turned around, moving her arms until she was standing in front of him with her wrists grasped by his hands. She seemed stunned, her eyes wide. Her skin was pale as well. It only took a moment longer for the tremors to start, sweat beading on her brow. Immediately his mind diagnosed what was happening to her. He quickly reached out and moved her bag off her shoulder, dropping it onto the ground.

"You're being affected by Spiritual Pressure," he told her, "overwhelmed by it. Do you have water or food in your bag?" she said nothing, "Arisawa," he said her name firmly.

"I thought you were supposed to call me Tatsuki," she said turning her eyes to him.

"My apologies," he said with a quick smile.

She swayed on her feet. Quickly he steadied her, grasping her shoulders. She was dangerously close to fainting, that much he could see plainly. He had to get her to sit, in case she did, the closer to the ground she was the better. Easing her onto the roof, he made sure she was at least sitting before he turned his attention to her bag. Reaching over he opened her bag, looking through it. He found a bottle of water but no food. Taking what he could get, he knelt down by her and uncapped the bottle.

"Drink," he told her, undoing the fastening of the cape at his throat. He shrugged the garment off. It wasn't much but he knew he had to keep her warm. Shakily she lifted the bottle to her lips and managed a few mouthfuls, "the others should contain their power soon. You'll feel better."

"C-can't you j-just kill me now?" she asked with a weak grin, her body still trembling.

"No," he said, smiling back at her, "and I don't think moving you is a good idea--" he looked over, feeling the Spiritual Power in the area drop, "they're containing themselves," he told her.

It was almost fifteen minutes before Tatsuki felt as if she could stand without keeling over. It was a terrible feeling, but slowly the nausea retreated, the trembling became almost non-existent. Fifteen minutes and yet she knew thought it should have taken longer--no matter how endless it felt. She still felt weak and shaky but at least she did not thinks she was in danger of fainting. At least, she was determined not to. Certainly to bring the situation at hand to an end as quickly as she could. The entire time Uryuu was never more than an arm's length away, telling her to drink more water, making sure she was alright. It was weird to have someone looking out for her like he was. Weird but not necessarily bad. When the shivers stopped enough that she could speak without sounding like someone about to drop into hypothermia, Tatsuki looked at him.

"I think I---I think I can get up," she said, blushing at the stammering in her voice.

"Let me help you," he said standing and extending his hand. Tatsuki grabbed his, letting him help her to her feet, "how do you--" he began.

"Hold on," Tatsuki said, shoving the feeling aside as she felt the hand in hers.

It was oddly smooth, almost completely free of any kind of callous. Odd, considering he clearly was used to getting into fights that destroyed buildings. She grabbed his wrist and turned his hand over. Reaching down, she grabbed his hand, turning it over, comparing the calloused to the strangely smooth. Those hands, they were unmistakable. She looked between them before raising her head to look into the exact midnight eyes she had seen the night before. Suddenly it was shockingly clear.

Unfortunately for the part of Tatsuki that told her to run, the pieces clicked into place at the exact same time for Uryuu. He realized there would only be one person who would be inspecting his hands like she was. One person who would be that same height, whose hair looked as if it was just long enough to be pulled back with the proper amount of clips. His own eyes widened as he realized exactly what was going on.

"It was you!" they both cried at the exact same moment.

"Oh no, no, no, no," Tatsuki dropped his wrists, clapping her hands over her mouth, "see this is _exactly_ why--" she glared suddenly, anger fighting past the previous vacancy, "you can tell _no-one_ what I told you last night. Got it?" when he didn't respond she grabbed his collar, "got it?" she hollered.

"Yes!" he said as she shouted at him, "yes," he repeated, "and you--" he began, "well the same goes for you," she continued to glare at him, "can you, maybe--"

"Maybe what?!"

"Maybe let me go?" he asked.

Tatsuki opened her mouth to holler at him when she realized that her hands were gripping the fabric of his shirt, yanking him down towards her. Their faces were inches apart as he bent towards her, clearly not expecting her to be as strong as she was considering neither of them were sure she was going to be able to make it down a flight of stairs. Still she realized that she had dragged him down to the point where a few more inches and their noses would have been touching.

A few more and their lips would have been as well.

"Right, sorry," Tatsuki said letting him go, Uryuu straitened up, "great, so, now you know and I know and we can stop torturing ourselves and really agree just that last night never happened. So, yeah, thanks for saving my life and I'm going to go stagger home and pass out now. See you in school tomorrow," she said striding over to the door that would lead to the stairs, as purposefully as she could.

It was only after she had disappeared that Uryuu discovered two things.

One, Tatsuki Arisawa had been torturing herself over the mystery of his identity.

Two, she had left her karate bag on the roof.

Bending down, Uryuu picked up the thing. Out of the corner of his gaze he saw books and a uniform, clearly she had just crammed the contents of her locker that she would need for the next day into the bag. Carefully he did the zipper of the bag up. Hefting it over his shoulder he paused long enough only to grab his cape and to push his glasses up higher on his nose.

Then he set off to return her bag.

And maybe to get a word in before she ran off again.

* * *

**Okay so I didn't want them to drag on with the whole 'who is that person' thing. They're two smart, insightful people, I figured one would figure it out sooner rather than later. Also I totally wanted to have a part where Uryuu got to swoop in and rescue someone--well, as much as Tatsuki would let someone rescue her.**

**I know some of you came over from "Shuffle", because you requested a story like this. But for those of you who like Ulquihime, Uryuu/Tatsuki are another pairing in that story. Its a fic with Ulquiorra being forced to attend Karakura High school. Ulquihime is totally my Bleach OTP so if you're interested on another take (still by me) on Uryuu and Tatsuki, then feel free to go and check that story out!**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Reviews make me write faster. What can i say, my Muse likes to be spoiled! Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Tatsuki! There's a boy from your class here to see you!"

Tatsuki's eyes widened, her head snapping towards the door. It was the small, foolish part of her that thought it could possibly be someone else. But the rest of her already knew who was on the other side of the door. Damn it, she had not thought that Uryuu Ishida had it in him to come for her. Especially not after she had told him very specifically that she did not want to see him. He was such a deceptively yielding guy. Usually when she saw him he was following. Ichigo, Orihime, it didn't matter. But now all of a sudden he had to pick _now_ to show that backbone of his. To _her _ of all people. And her mother had just sold her out. It wasn't as if she could pretend she wasn't there after her mother had called up to her.

Uryuu Ishida got a backbone.

She turned into a coward.

Furiously Tatsuki pulled open the door and stormed out of her room. While her room was her, the rest of the house she called home was far more luxurious than Tatsuki thought she'd ever be comfortable in. Plush carpets, expensive antiques, the house was a tasteful masterpiece that, more often than not, Tatsuki wanted to take a sledgehammer to. It wasn't that she didn't like her home, she really did. It was that she didn't like the perfect image it projected. She loved her family but they were a stark reminder that there were two sides to every story. Two sides to every person. She didn't bring friends over because she didn't know what the hell they would say if they found out that despite being an ass kicker and a tough girl, the fact was that her parents were very rich. Rich enough that there were about a dozen painted portraits of her family that featured her in dresses she would rather die than let anyone from school see.

"Thanks mom," she said.

Mrs. Arisawa smiled at her daughter. A slim woman, she had Tatsuki's features, framed far more gently by her carefully coiffed hair. A double strand of pearls hung around her throat while the suite she wore was tailored perfectly to her petite form. Though when people saw her they saw the wife of a powerful businessman and a woman at the forefront of many charities, when Tatsuki saw her she saw her mother. And when her mother took one look at her daughters face, she felt concern in her. Tatsuki rarely had people over and the fact that there was a boy standing there holding her bag was strange. But the fact Tatsuki seemed actually slightly nervous was stranger still. Even so, Tatsuki squared her shoulders and stepped into the doorway.

"What do you want?" she demanded, her voice gruff as Mrs. Arisawa quickly slipped out to give her daughter and her friend some privacy.

Uryuu looked down at Tatsuki who raised her chin challengingly, her eyes boring into him. Twenty minutes ago she had been staggering around a roof, struggling with the effects of the draining of Spiritual Power. Now she was _glaring_ up at him, the wetness on her simply water from the shower. Uryuu found himself actually impressed with her. The fact she was moving at all was rather remarkable considering she had no training and had just been the brunt of a serious attack of Spiritual Power. The falling building, his rescue and subsequent adrenaline drain could not have helped matters.

"I wished to return this," Uryuu said holding up her bag. Tatsuki reached out, "after we speak," he said moving the object away.

"We have nothing to say," she said.

"I disagree," he told her, "however you seem quite content to run away before I am able to voice my opinion."

"Well I--" Tatsuki felt her face burn. Grabbing the last, tattered shreds of her dignity she drew herself up, "well you should talk faster!" she snapped.

"Perhaps you should allow a person to speak," he said, "may I come in or would you prefer to have this conversation standing in your doorway?"

"Fine!" Tatsuki said stepping aside, her voice letting him know under no uncertain circumstances that she was displeased with the situation at hand.

Uryuu stepped into the first room and, despite not allowing it to show on his face, found himself truly shocked. The house was nice--a good deal nicer than he would have thought. Subtle, tasteful hints of wealth were everywhere, the kind that came with one of the pricier decorators. He looked over at Tatsuki, surprised to see her shifting slightly on the balls of her feet--as if she was _nervous_ about him seeing her home. Uryuu couldn't figure out why. It was a very nice house, though it was quite unlike anything he would have expected from a girl who readily got in the face of anyone who annoyed her. This seemed like the kind of house that had seen far more dinner parties than it had fist fights. Although, even with what he knew about her from the ball, he had to admit he had a difficult time picturing her at one of those.

Standing there Tatsuki wished to any God who cared to hear her prayers that the ground would open up and swallow her whole. Everything from the antique vase overflowing with Jasmine to the carefully upholstered couch to the expensive paintings hanging everywhere all contributed to the reason she never brought people home. Tatsuki had long ago decided that, since most of the girls she met at parties like the ones that were held in her house were girls she didn't like, she would not act like one of them. And so since the first day she had walked through the doors of her middle school she had kept her two lives strictly separate. Even Ichigo didn't know about this side of her life, about the fact her mother belonged to more charities than she could count and her father made more money than half of Karakura combined. Her saving grace was the relatively plain exterior of her house, though she was sure if anyone looked close they would see the carefully trimmed grass of the lawn and the expensive flowers that grew around the house.

She had been determined to keep these lives separate and yet, somehow, Uryuu Ishida was determined to ruin that.

"What do you want?" Tatsuki demanded crossing her arms across her chest.

"I want to talk to you," Uryuu said. Tatsuki opened her mouth but he continued, "you seem inclined to run off before we have a chance to do so."

With her mouth still open, this time in pure outrage, Tatsuki glared at him. She could feel her cheeks burn and she knew that he was right. But really, what did they have to talk about? They had said some things--things that they certainly wouldn't have said to each other if they had known who the other was. It wasn't that Tatsuki didn't like Uryuu, quite the contrary. She liked him a lot. Between her own violent outbursts, Sado's inclination to say nothing about anything, Orihime's general craziness and Ichigo's moments of sheer stupidity--which seemed to outnumber his non-stupid ones--it was refreshing to have someone who was, at least most of the time, level headed. And, if she had to admit it, Tatsuki would say she admired him for his ability to stand up for what he believed in. He didn't say exactly why he had moved out of his father's house but she knew it had to do with some kind of disagreement the two of them had. On that fact alone, Tatsuki liked him well enough.

She just wanted him out of the house.

"So talk," she said shortly.

Uryuu raised his eyebrows, surprised. He had been expecting her to fight or throw him out or grab her back and walk away. He hadn't been expecting her to readily agree to talk to him. Standing there though, she looked anything but happy about the situation and, almost irrationally, Uryuu felt bad about that. He didn't like putting undeserving people in embarrassing situations. Part of him thought that he should just make an exit but the rest of him told him to hold fast. They needed to talk. It was impossible to keep running away as they had been doing. They needed to speak about what had happened that night. Of course _how_ they were going to go about doing that was an entirely different matter.

"I enjoyed your company the other night--" he began.

"Alright that's it," Tatsuki said, her patience snapping like a tightly wound thread, "it didn't happen."

"What?" Uryuu looked at her.

"I said," Tatsuki gritted through her teeth, "it didn't happen," Uryuu stared at her, "it didn't!"

"I fail to see your logic," he said.

"My logic?" Tatsuki repeated, dumbfounded that he could be so slow, "my logic is we wouldn't have said _any_ of that stuff to each other if we'd known--" she stopped angrily before continuing, "its better if we just pretend that whoever those people were--they weren't us."

She was embarrassed, Uryuu realized.

But what could she be embarrassed about? It wasn't as though they had admitted something life changing. All they had really done was danced and told a few secrets. Admittedly they were not secrets they would have said if they had known who the other was, but it was not as though they had told each other things they thought should never see the light of day. And yet, standing in the room of a house he never would have associated with her, Uryuu realized that he had crossed some sort of boundary with her. Maybe it was the fact he knew she could wear a dress, that she could dance, that the interior of her house was quite unlike the rest of their classmates. Or, perhaps it was the fact he now knew what she felt like when they had left her behind.

Whatever the reason, however justified it was, Uryuu realized that he did not simply want to pretend they did not know each other. He did not want to pretend that they did not know those things about each other. Because Uryuu ha enjoyed himself the other night, more than he thought he had in a while. And when he realized that it was _Tatsuki_ of all people, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he was not ready to just let go. He had enjoyed the other night and despite the embarrassment that was undeniably plastered all over her face, he was not sure that it was a bad thing the girl turned out to be her. She, however, clearly did not share the sentiment with him.

"Why do you feel that way?" he asked.

"Why do I feel that--what? You don't feel that way?" he shook his head, "are you _out_ of your mind?! Or did you forget what we said--" she stopped with a groan, dragging her hand down the side of her face.

Tatsuki didn't understand how he was being so damn calm about this whole situation. But he was. If anything he seemed intent to make it absolutely clear who the other was. As if he had really _enjoyed_ the other night. If her cheeks weren't quite so hot, Tatuski would say that she had enjoyed it as well. But she wouldn't have said anything if she had had even the faintest idea that it was _Uryuu_ of all people she was talking to. Now, though, as she saw him she realized that she should have known. His voice, his eyes, everything about him was exactly the same except there was no mask on his face.

"I remember what we said to each other," he replied, his voice that infuriating calm tone.

"And you don't find anything wrong with the fact you practically told me you were in love with my best friend?" she demanded.

"No more than you informing me of your feelings of abandonment," he told her. Tatsuki felt her fists ball, "I fail to see the issue--"

"The issue? The damn issue is that its not like its something I'm proud of, okay?" she snapped.

"Your feelings are more than understandable--"

"I don't care what you think my feelings are!" she hissed, though Uryuu got the distinct impression the volume of her voice was low only because of her parent's sake, "doesn't it bother you that you basically told me that you used to be in love with my best friend?" she questioned sharply.

Uryuu sighed and pushed his glasses up. While he could not deny that it was a rather embarrassing thought, he did not think that it was embarrassing enough to make him not want to see her ever again. But Tatsuki seemed to think her confession of feeling abandoned by her friends--which was understandable given the fact that they had abandoned her--was enough to want to deny everything that had happened. Uryuu didn't understand. She had to have understood there was a _chance_ they would meet again but she had still told him everything. Maybe, on some level, she had wanted to share her feelings. He surmised that she simply did not want to tell her feelings to anyone who actually knew her. Of course choosing someone at a school dance to tell her feelings to did show a serious flaw in her logic.

"My feelings for Inoue were not an embarrassment," Uryuu said finally, "I still do care for her deeply," Tatsuki continued to look at him, "but I have accepted her feelings for me are strictly platonic."

"And you expect me to believe that just like that you stopped liking her."

"Of course not," Uryuu said, "but as of now that is the case," Tatsuki said nothing, "may I ask you something?"

"Sure, why not?" she grumbled, crossing her arms defensively across her chest.

"How did you figure out who I was?"

"Your hands."

Uryuu frowned as he looked at her, not quite understanding. Tatsuki blushed and looked at the ground, tightening her arms over her chest in a failed attempt at defense against his piercing eyes.

"My hands," Uryuu repeated.

"Yeah," Tatsuki said, her eyes flying up to lock on his face, "your hands. One of your hands is way smother then the other, its weird," she looked down again before forcing herself to look him in the eye, "I notice it then and when you helped me up on the roof--I noticed it."

"I see," Uryuu said mildly, though he didn't elaborate.

"Why's it like that?" Tatsuki demanded after a minute, "well you're on the school's archery team, you're obviously using it a lot," she looked down at his hand, "why is it so smooth?" her eyes widened, "Uryuu you're bleeding!"

Uryuu frowned and looked down, surprised to see that his hand was, in fact, bleeding. Not enough to drip on the carpet, most of the blood was congealed, but he clearly had been bleeding. Inwardly he swore. Despite having used his hand normally, something of Inoue's power seemed to exist in the limb. Every callous he tried to grow would disappear, healing over completely. He knew that the cuts he had had now would be gone by morning, healed as well. He was grateful to have his hand but it was still painful. Every day it was like he had to start from scratch. As if he woke up every day with his hand freshly healed. It was painful and annoying considering how much he used the appendage.

"It will be fine by morning," Uryuu said.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"You are aware of Inoue's powers?" she nodded, "in our fight, my hand was cut off. Inoue had to create it from nothing and I suppose my hand has retained some of her ability. It heals quickly."

"That's why its so smooth?" Tatsuki questioned. Uryuu nodded, "that must suck, huh?" he looked at her, surprise on his face and Tatsuki felt her own heat up, "it just seems like it'd suck to have to try and get new callouses every day."

"it does," Uryuu said after a moment, "but I have adapted."

"Uh huh," she said, "do you need them with that blue bow you use?" she asked after a moment, "i mean I get you need them for your real one but is that one--" she stopped, not sure how to ask what she wanted.

"It is real," Uryuu said, "it is created out of Spiritual Energy," he elaborated when he saw the confusion her face.

"How come its blue?"

"I do not know," he said slowly.

Tatsuki nodded, not sure what had just happened. But it was like they had a--a _conversation_. Inwardly she winced. How could they just fall into that? Why the hell was it so easy to talk to him. even when she knew she had old him something she wished she would never have told _anyone_, she still found it almost instinctive to let her guard down around him. Looking at him she knew that even though she was embarrassed that he knew, she wasn't half as embarrassed as if it had been Mizuiro or some other black haired boy. All she knew was that it was _way_ too easy to feel comfortable around Uryuu Ishida and she had to get rid of him. Somehow she had to get rid of him before she confessed more things she didn't want anyone she knew knowing.

"Well, great, when you figure it out lemme know," she cast her eyes about desperately looking for an excuse, "oh look at the time. Well, you'd better go, you know, heal your hand or something."

"Very well," Uryuu said, unable to deny the fact she wanted him gone and he was far too much of a gentleman to object, "here," he said extending the bag to her, "your bag."

"Thanks," Tatsuki said taking the handle of the bag.

Uryuu nodded before he turned and walked to the door. He had said what he needed to. They had spoken and even if the conversation had not gone as he wished it would have, he tried to tell himself that it had happened and _that_ was the important thing. Uryuu reached out for the door before he stopped and turned around once more. Tatsuki's eyes widened as he did ad he saw her tense for whatever he was about to say, as i words could cause her physical pain. Uryuu was careful to choose his words when he spoke again.

"It is acceptable," he said, "for you to feel abandoned given our actions," she opened her mouth indignantly but he continued before she could shout at him, "but I do understand why you are embarrassed. Rest assured I will not share your feelings with the rest of the group," Tatsuki's lips pressed together, "goodnight," Uryuu said before he stepped out, closing the door behind him.

Tatsuki leaned against the wall with a groan.

How the _hell_ did he manage to do that?

She didn't know exactly how she'd managed to mess things up as quickly as she did--but she totally had. It was easy to go for anger or even amusement, but hurt, fear--all those things, she didn't like feeling any of them. And over the course of a single conversation she had felt probably every emotion she was capable of feeling. She hadn't even managed to say goodnight to him! She had practically thrown him out of her house, he had comforted her and bid her farewell and she hadn't even managed to reply. She was like one of those crazy love sick girls who couldn't speak around the boys they liked.

"Oh no," Tatsuki said as realization and dread settled like a knot in the pit of her stomach, "no, no _no_," she shoved herself off the wall and pounded up the stairs to her bedroom.

"Tatsuki!" she heard her mother call.

"Not now mom!" Tatsuki shouted over her shoulder before she yanked open the door to her room and slammed it behind her, wishing desperately that the thoughts tumbling through her head would have stayed downstairs.

She liked talking to Uryuu, she respected him, he was calm and cool and collected--everything she seemed not to be. And yet somehow she had the sickening feeling that the old saying "opposites attract" was applying here. But how could this have happened? She had known Uryuu for a long time--almost as long as she had known the others. And yet she hadn't ever felt this kind of thing, except for a schoolgirl crush on Ichigo once, and she certainly hadn't felt this way where Uryuu Ishida was concerned. Five minutes ago she'd been sure that all she wanted to do was get him as far away from her as possible. Now she felt horrible embarrassed that she hadn't even managed to say 'goodbye' to him. She had to figure out a way to fix this.

Groaning she dropped the bag on the bed and unzipped it, fishing around until her hand found her cellphone. She had a handful of missed calls and unread texts, neither of which she particularly cared about or felt bad about clicking out of. Instead she quickly punched in the number for her best friend, shifting her weight on the balls of her feet and praying Orihime would pick up. Thankfully she did, almost on the second ring.

"Tatsuki!" she cried, "what's going on? Are you in trouble--"

"No, no I'm fine," Tatsuki said pressing the heel of her hand to her forehead, "I just--" she stopped and took a breath before continuing, "do you know where the school's archery club meets?"

"Huh? Why do you want to know that?" Orihime asked.

"I need to, um," Tatsuki thought desperately for something that would give her an excuse for why she needed to go to the archery club, "I'm thinking of joining," she lied, immediately wondering why _that_ came to mind, "yeah, archery, you know, try some weapons?"

"Oh, alright," Orihime said, "but why don't you call Uryuu? He's really good and I'm sure he'd be happy to teach you!"

"Oh, yeah, ah, so, where?" Tatsuki stumbled out the words.

"Sorry! Um, they meet at the fields behind school, I think a half an hour after classes get out."

"Thanks," Tatsuki said.

"You sure you're okay?" Orihime asked, "you sound strange."

"I'm fine," Tatsuki said, "I just had a really weird day."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No," she said quickly, "sorry, just, maybe some other time?"

"Okay!" Orihime said.

"Great, I'll see you in school tomorrow," Tatsuki said.

She hung up the phone and looked over at the clock on her wall. Now all she had to do, in the span of sixteen some-odd hours was to figure out what the hell she was supposed to say to Uryuu Ishida, a boy she could only _pray_ didn't want to ignore her completely after what she had done.

Sitting at her desk, Tatsuki yanked a piece of paper towards her, grabbed a pen and got to work.

* * *

**Okay so right now i've got this thing clocking in at about 5 chapters but truthfully it might be a bit longer. Not epic-long but a bit. But we'll see. Oh and yes there are elements from Shuffle in this. I like the idea of their relationship in the other one.**

**And yes, there's going to be an Archery scene. But its going to be different and a hundred times more awesome.**

**Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay I'm completely depressed by where my other stories are so here's something happy and lighthearted because, well, I need it right now. **

**Now for those who read "Shuffle", you know the archery scene I'm talking about. Well that was one way it was going to go. But the other way I wrote it was one of my favorites and it didn't work with Shuffle. "Escape Me" was actually created around the scene. I like this version better and it goes very well with Uryuu's slightly more confident personality. **

**So enjoy!**

**

* * *

  
**

"Come on Tatsuki, you can do this."

Muttering to herself, Tatsuki rounded the corner of the building. Still dressed in her karate uniform, she had thrown a jacket over it and headed strait over there. She still wasn't sure _why_ she felt the need to go and talk to Uryuu, only that for some strange reason she knew she had to do it. Rounding the corner of the building, however, she felt her confidence falter at the sight of the archery team. There shouldn't have been anything unusual about it. She had passed them before of course but this time she was actually there to see one of their members. They each had some kind of strange gloves on to protect their hands and each held their bows as they took shots at the targets lined up a bit down the way.

It was just weird to see that Uryuu's bow didn't glow.

He was obviously a cut above what the others were. Every arrow he sent buried itself in the bullseye. It wasn't hard to know why. Uryuu was used to fighting physical targets, targets that moved and wanted to kill him. A target was probably nothing to him, after all it was stationary and didn't want to eat him for dinner. Angrily Tatsuki tried to walk forward and found she couldn't move. She could stand there all night making excuses about why she didn't want to walk over there and talk to him. Honestly she knew she should have just left it alone. She should turn around and walk away, no-one needed to be any wiser. He knew way too much about her now anyway, she had practically thrown him out of her house. What business did she possibly have going over and talking to him?

As she stood there struggling with what she was going to do, Tatsuki realized that she'd become her own worst nightmare. Standing there, torturing herself over a guy, what the hell had she become? Even if that guy _was_ Uryuu Ishida. Uryuu who, it turned out, was way easier to talk to than she'd thought--even if she could only seem to talk to him when he was wearing a mask. He looked so cool and confident, standing there firing arrows into the target. Slowly he lowered his bow, placing it down carefully before bringing his left hand forward. Tatsuki remembered how odd it was to feel the completely smooth hand as opposed to his other more calloused one. He didn't remove his glove but she saw him move his fingers, wincing at the sensation before he quickly bent down and picked up the bow, turning back to the target.

Forcing herself to walk forward, she saw a few of the boys leaving. Practice was finished. It figured that Uryuu would stay behind to continue to work. Grateful for the privacy their absence was going to give her, Tatsuki slowed her pace until they were almost gone. He continued to stand there and shoot, though Tatsuki knew he head her coming. She guessed he thought that she was just going to run away again and the thought kind of made her feel sick. Tatsuki Arisawa did _not_ run, especially not from boys who were kind of cute when their glasses were slightly astray. Marching forward, she stopped when she was directly behind him, just out of range of his elbow. He nocked another arrow, drawing the bow back and releasing it in a smooth and practiced motion.

"Hey," Tatsuki said.

Uryuu felt his eyes widen as he held himself still. Thanks to his training he'd seen someone coming towards them but he hadn't been sure that it was her until she'd gotten closer. He hadn't dared to look, expecting her to be gone by the time he turned around. But she was not. Carefully he set down his bow and turned around to face her fully. She was standing there still dressed in her karate uniform with her hands shoved deep into the pockets of the jacket she'd thrown over it. She looked nervous but she wasn't running away from him--which was an immediate improvement over their previous meetings. He waited for a moment, just to be certain she was not going to run for the hills. When she did not he forced himself to speak.

"Arisawa," he greeted her.

"God, Uryuu, we _talked_ about this!" Tatsuki cried, the nervousness vanishing from her face, "you said you'd call me Tatsuki!"

"I--" Uryuu felt heat come to his cheeks, "I forgot."

"Its fine," she said after a minute, "my last name's just--" she shrugged, "I don't know. Annoying. My parents are the Arisawa's, I'm Tatsuki."

"I understand," Uryuu said. She looked over at him, "my surname also carries weight I am not comfortable in bearing."

"Oh yeah, your dad," she scratched the back of her neck, "I forgot about that."

"Most people do not," he said.

Tatsuki nodded, shifting slightly again before she finally jammed her hand into her pocket, pulling something out.

"Here," she said, holding out her hand.

Sitting in her palm was a small dark green unmarked tin. Uryuu reached out with a gloved hand and took the thing from her open palm. She said nothing as he wordlessly opened it to expose some kind of dark green salve that smelled very strongly of herbs. He looked at her curiously before looking back at the stuff. Tatsuki shifted her weight uncomfortably as her cheeks flushed rather spectacularly with embarrassment. Still, when she spoke she didn't mutter or duck her head like some other girls would have.

"Its numbing salve," she said after a second, "my grandmother makes it. I use it when I've got a sprain or something," she continued, "you sad your hand was bothering you. Trust me, whatever my grandma puts in there is strong enough to counteract Orihime's magic."

Uryuu looked back at the stuff and then up at her, surprised that she'd remembered him mentioning the discomfort about his hand. She didn't fully understand the mechanics of Orihime's powers--not that any of them really did--but she'd realized that numbing the pain might be the best way to work with the residual healing of the appendage. She couldn't stop the healing anymore than he could, but if the numbing stuff made her numb enough for her to fight with an injury then he was sure it would be good enough to let him use his hand without the pain he couldn't quite get used to.

"Thank you," Uryuu said looking up at her.

"Don't mention it," she said, "you were nice enough to bring my bag over and Orihime's healing is probably gonna keep going so maybe that'll help."

"I think it might," he said.

Tatsuki nodded. Her eyes moved from his face to past his shoulder where the targets were. The arrows were buried all in the center of the target, the bullseye barely visible thanks to the arrows buried inside of it. He was a very good shot, better than she had even thought at a passing glance. The arrows were buried exactly in the target, they were evenly spaced. That took more than just talent, that took something special. She looked over at Uryuu who was watching her, before looking back at the arrows. Tatsuki didn't know what compelled her to stay there, she had been quite sure that standing next to him was the last thing she wanted in the world. Finally she looked at him and spoke.

"So, what are you?" she asked. He frowned and she quickly elaborated, "I mean, your dressed in white and you're not swinging some really huge sword around--so yu're not whatever Ichigo and Rukia are. So what are you?"

"I am a Quincy," he said, "we are archers, not swordsmen."

"Yeah," Tatsuki said with a grin, "I can see that."

Uryuu pushed his glasses up on his nose, heat creeping up the back of his neck. He didn't quite know what to make of her presence there. Obviously she had come because--well, he wasn't sure why she had come. But she was there and she was actually talking to him. Not yelling, not backing away like a scared animal, just talking like they had that night. Talking like they used to do before they had all left and she had decided she'd rather beat Ichgio into a pulp instead of hanging out with the group. All he could think was that it was _nice_ to talk to her like this. Even without the security that the masks had provided them with. Tatsuki sighed finally and looked at him, putting her hands on her hips.

"So, we gonna stand her and talk or are you gonna teach me to shoot one of these things?"

"You want to learn how to shoot a bow?" he asked.

"Well the way I figure, we've gotta have something to tell the people still at school when they ask what we were doing out here," she said picking up the bow, "so shoot."

Uryuu could have pointed out that she once again needed an excuse to tell people but decided against it. They were enjoying each other's company, she wasn't running and he could think of far worse things to do than teach Tatsuki how to shoot a bow. He glanced over his shoulder to see that they still had a fair amount of light left. Walking over to her, he held his hand for her to put the bow in. She did after a moment, her hand brushing against his. He could feel nothing but the barest pressure through the leather of his gloves. She kept her hands outside her pockets, watching him intently as he held the bow in his hand, trying to figure out how he was supposed to teach her. It had been a very long time since he'd taught anyone how to shoot.

"This," Uryuu said, "is a recurve bow. I find it easier to shoot because it is similar to my first Quincy bow."

"Yeah, that thing you were firing the other day was round," he looked over at her, "well it didn't look like a bow," Tatsuki elaborated almost defensively.

"No," Uryuu said after a moment's consideration, "I suppose it does not. It does allow me to fire more shots."

"How many?"

"1,200 consecutively."

"Holy crap that's a lot of arrows," she said, "I thought you were a good shot."

"I am," he said.

"Yeah? Well why do you need to fire so many shots?"

"There are usually many enemies," he replied, realizing belatedly that she was teasing him, "for this, however, we will only be firing one arrow at a time."

Tatsuki laughed and Uryuu felt his own lips curve into a smile. Tatsuki looked at the target that was riddled with arrows, all in the bullseye before she stepped closer to him. Uryuu pushed his glasses up with one finger before he held the bow out to her. Tatsuki reached out and picked the weapon up once more, her hands wrapping around the cool metal. She held the bow in the flat of her palm, seemingly testing the weight.

"Have you worked with weapons before?" Uryuu asked.

"Not really," she said, "I'm more of a fight-with-your-hands kind of girl."

"Understandable," he said, "it is how you have become accustom to fighting--"

"Hey! If I wanted to learn to fight with weapons I could!" Tatsuki objected hotly.

Uryuu looked at her, slightly surprised at her defensiveness. He was under the impression that Tatsuki was a girl not used to hearing 'no' very often--and did not like to hear it at all. If he could respect nothing else about her, he could respect that. He did not like to hear that word either. His father had said he could not be a Quincy, the Shinigami had said he could not fight--the 12th Division Captain had said he could not leave without being in a glass test tube. And each time he'd defied them. He had suffered the consequences of his decisions, no matter how sever they might be, but he'd always known his choices were the right ones. Still, however right his choices were, the fact was that he was still defiant--and still didn't like to hear the word 'no'.

"I meant nothing by it," Uryuu said, fighting the urge to raise his hands defensively and settling instead for pushing his glasses up on his nose, "shall I teach you?"

Tatsuki nodded as Uryuu picked an arrow and came behind her. The shiver that went through her had little to do with the breeze that blew by them just then. She looked down to see the way his feet were and quickly mimicked the stance, trying not to find oddity in the white uniform pants she wore. She knew wasn't going to change just to meet him but even so it seemed weird. He stood far enough away that she couldn't feel him but she was aware of him none the less. Tatsuki's tongue darted out nervously, wetting her lips in an action she hadn't done since she was much younger. Instantly she realized he probably thought she was nervous and regardless of how nervous she was, she was embarrassed all the same.

"First we need to prep the arrow," he said.

Uryuu moved closer to her. it was strange how in the quiet, in the still, he was far more nervous than all the times he had spent with Inoue combined. There wasn't anything to distract him from the girl who stood in front of him holding the bow. He told himself he had nothing to be nervous about and instead focused on reaching donw and wrapping his hand around the bow, placing his grip just below hers. With his other hand he bent forward to position the arrow. But in order to reach it, he had to lean forward enough so that his chest pressed into her back. He felt her stiffen instinctively, her one foot moving slightly into her own version of a fighting stance. A part of him acknowledged that she could easily kick his ass.

The rest of him was completely distracted by the girl who was, more or less, in his arms once more.

For her part, Tatsuki barely dared to breathe. A part of her wanted to react on instinct slam her elbow into his side and get out of his grip. But the larger part of her felt his chest against her spine and found it very hard to think. She could feel the rhythm of his heart. When he exhaled, she felt his breath on the skin of her neck, exposed by her jacket. She had put so much distance between them--the time he saved her aside--that she'd forgotten how, well, nice it was to be in his arms. Of course the last time she'd been in his embrace it had been almost chaste, the kind of dancing they ddi was not meant to be sexual. Neither was this embrace but Tatsuki felt warmth pool in her stomach none the less.

"You--" Uryuu began, his voice strangled before he cleared his throat and began again, "first you need to position the arrow," he said.

Tatsuki looked down as his black gloved hand moved the arrow into place on the weapon. Regardless if he could fire 1,200 shots consecutively or not, he was very good at firing them one at a time. His movements were slow and perfectly controlled as he positioned the arrow against the string. Tatsuki watched as he did that, his fingers holding the end of it along with the bowstring. Glancing out of the corner of her eye she saw that his eyes were on her. Belatedly she realized that she was going to have to hold the arrow to fire the bow.

"Right, sorry," she said rolling her eyes at her own foolishness, "okay," she held the arrow with the string, "what now?"

"Now you raise the bow," he said, "while pulling back on the string," he narrated, "like this," he said. Tatsuki tensed and Uryuu smiled, "its just like dancing. Follow me."

"I thought you said you wouldn't mention that," Tatsuki said through gritted teeth.

"That was your idea," Uryuu said.

"You agreed to it," she shot back.

"Fair enough," he said, "regardless. Follow me."

Tatsuki sighed but nodded, forcing herself to relax as Uryuu guided her arms up and back. The movements were strange to her but she trusted his ability. He held her arms there for a moment, slowly easing the weight of the movements onto her. Tatsuki was surprised at how hard it was to keep the bow taut but she forced herself to keep holding it, unwilling to look weak in front of him.

"Now we release," he said.

Tatsuki nodded as he opened his hand and she did the same. The arrow whistled through the air to plunge just to the right of the bulls-eye. Tatsuki let her arm drop as she looked at the lone arrow sticking out from the rest in the target. Uryuu said nothing about the shot that swung wide. In fact, he didn't make any movement away from her either.

"Okay I'm trying again," she said stepping forward and picking up an arrow.

"Very well," Uryuu said. as she stepped back to where he was standing, her back pressing to his chest once more.

"So," she began, "who taught you to shoot?" she asked, trying to keep the wobble out of her voice.

"My grandfather," he said, "then my father assisted me with my training later on."

Tatsuki nodded, fixing the arrow like he'd shown her. Uryuu watched, slightly impressed at how she copied him. When the arrow was fixed to her satisfaction, Tatsuki made to stand up but Uryuu placed a hand on her shoulder, preventing her. Tatsuki looked over her shoulder at him, raising an eyebrow in a silent question.

"Your stance," he said. Tatsuki looked down, arranging her feet like he had them, "alright now you can draw your bow."

Tatsuki nodded, straitening up and drawing the bow back. Her muscles strained as she held the bow like he'd shown her, waiting for him to tell her when she was supposed to release the thing.

"Am I doing this right?" Tatsuki demanded.

"Hold on," he said, "may I?"

"Uryuu," she began, her voice threatening.

Uryuu smiled at the impatience in her tone before he reached out, placing one hand on her waist and aligning her arm with the line of his shoulder, bringing the bow into alignment. He moved his other hand out, gently grasping the arm that held the bow taut, adjusting until that too was in position. He felt her tense slightly as he touched her, though his touch was chaste, before she relaxed once more and allowed him to adjust her. When she was in alignment, her arms as they should be and her back against his chest, he made no move to remove his hands from her waist and arm.

"Now you may--" he began but she let the arrow fly.

It whistled through the air and slammed into the bulls-eye. Not dead center but certainly closer than the arrow they'd shot together. Uryuu was surprised at how much closer she'd managed to get to the center. Tatsuki grinned, pleased that she'd managed to hit the bulls-eye.

"Not bad, right?" Tatsuki said raising her eyebrows and looking at him over her shoulder

"Much better," Uryuu agreed, his lips curving into a smile.

Despite the fact that the arrow and flew, neither moved from the other's embrace. Though her arms were by her side, Uryuu's hands were still on her waist and on her upper arm, his grip not tight but firm. Tatsuki felt her cheeks heat up as she stood with her back pressed to his chest. Before his heat had been steady but now it was fast, racing just as she felt her own. Tatsuki took a deep breath in a failed attempt to calm herself but all that did was press her more firmly against his back. If she moved away, Tatsuki knew he wouldn't stop her. He was too much of a gentlemen to do that. She knew she _should_ move away. Knew it and yet she was helpless to actually do it.

"Uryuu--" she began, her voice soft.

Uryuu too could feel her heart racing as her back pressed tightly against his chest. When she inhaled deeply and her body pressed even closer to his the feelings that raced through him were almost crippling in their intensity. There wasn't anything gentlemanly about the way his fingers pressed into the fabric covering her waist, nor in the way his hand encircled her upper arm. He had held women before but they had been soft, delicate even. Even with Inoue's immense power, there had always been a softness to her. There was nothing soft about the woman who stood in his arms. Not in the way she confronted anything and anyone she needed too--not in the muscle he felt under his hands. The woman who stood in front of him was a fighter, as much of a fighter as anyone he'd ever met.

"Yes, Tatsuki?" he tried to keep his voice steady, louder than her whisper but he did not succeed in either of those endeavors.

"I--" she tried to say something again, only to fall silent as her face moved fractionally towards his.

That was all it took for Uryuu to lean forward and gently press his lips to hers.

The bow hit the ground with a soft sound as Tatsuki twisted in his grip, not breaking the kiss as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Uryuu's hands wrapped around her waist as he pulled her even closer, her lips eagerly parting his as his tongue entered her mouth. It wasn't hesitant or delicate or any of the things Tatsuki had thought a first kiss should be. It was raw and passionate and _real_. Her head spun as his arms wrapped even tighter about her waist, her knees fighting to continue to support her. One thing was certain, for all his manners, Uryuu Ishida didn't _kiss_ like a gentlemen. It wasn't like he fought, with controlled and calm movements. No, this was something infinitely more fierce and uncontrolled. There was no calmness, no control in the motions. And there was certainly no sense in it.

When Tatsuki did finally pull back it was with great reluctance. But the cold air that rushed across her overly hot face was like a wake up call. Her mind finally caught up to the actions of her body. She was kissing Uryuu Ishida in the middle of an archery field in full view of the school after she'd gone there to apologize, nothing more. Now he stood across from her, looking just as shocked at what they had done as she did. Her first instinct was to run, just get out of there as fast as she could. But she was tired of running and she didn't think that she'd be able to deal with the shame of running away and apologizing all over again.

"I didn't mean to do that," Tatsuki blurted out, feeling strangely vulnerable.

"I--" he began, "I apolo--" he started again and then stopped.

He could have apologized--a part of him felt as though he _should_ have apologized for what he'd just done. But he did not feel sorry. Not for the flush on her cheeks or the swell of her lips or even the new wrinkles in her jacket. Certainly not for the heat he felt inside him nor the coldness on his front now that she was not pressed so tightly against him it was hard to tell where she ended and he began. But she wasn't running away again. It was obvious she was embarrassed, obvious that she wanted to run away but she wasn't doing it. Both were fighting against what they wanted to do.

"Give me a moment," he said instead, turning to the bow. Tatsuki didn't move as he methodically packed up his bow, leaving the gloves he wore on as he closed the case and turned to her. She watched his every movement, hawk like, "now I am ready."

"Ready for what?" she asked cautiously.

"Ready to walk you home," he said as though it was obvious.

"You want to walk me home?" she asked, "huh? What do you--" she shook her head, "seriously?"

"Yes," he said.

"Alright," Tatsuki said after a moment's consideration, "fine, you can walk me home on one condition."

"And what would that be?" he asked.

"You'll have to walk me home and find out," she said with a grin.

Uryuu nodded as the two of them turned and walked away from the field towards Tatsuki's house.

* * *

**What's she gonna make him do? **

**Find out next time!**

**Happy Holidays!  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**First things first, all of you should go to my profile here and click the link that's labeled 'fan art'. You'll be taken to my deivantart folder where some awesome artists have drawn things for me. Including CurlyHairedDemon who did an incredible Ishida/Tatsuki banner that's awesome....even if she likes Ishihime. Go check it out and tell her how awesome she (and Ishida/Tatsuki) are. Quick note about that is my fanart folder is VERY unorganized and there's a ton of stuff in there for many stories. But you should be able to find the banner with no problem. **

**A warning: this gets kinda hot towards the end.**

**Nothing explicit but there's some, uh, shall we say 'passion' that happens. **

**Blame the hormones. **

**

* * *

  
**

"So are you really walking me home or do you have something to do here?" Tatsuki asked, "because you really seem to know your way around this part of town."

"Both," Uryuu said with a light, slightly embarrassed cough as he pushed his glasses up on his nose, "my father has invited me to have dinner."

Tatsuki smiled at his obvious discomfort at the idea. She knew his relationship with his father was anything but ideal, though she didn't know the exact circumstances that brought them to it. She did know he lived alone and she knew that even if his father could do what Uryuu could he certainly did not do it. For all his father's wealth she knew Uryuu didn't live n the wealthy part of town his father did--that _her_ parents did. But he was there to have dinner with his father. For some reason the idea that he wasn't going out of his way to walk her home like she couldn't do it alone was almost comforting to her and she felt herself relax a bit.

"So dinner with the dad," she said tucking her hands into her pockets, "_that_ sounds awkward."

"You have no idea," he muttered after a moment.

Tatsuki opened her mouth to say something when an odd sensation tingled across her senses. Eyebrows knitting together, Tatsuki looked over her shoulder in the direction of the odd feeling. it felt like a homing beacon, calling towards her. It was like looking into the light before looking away. Her eyes had to adjust to it. When they did though, she saw the monstrous shape, silhouetted in the dying sun. It was one of those Hollows, like the ones that she'd encountered before--ones that kept trying to kill her. Her fingers tightened inside her jacket as she stared at it before she looked over at him. He was staring at the Hollow before his eyes moved from it to her.

"Is that--" she began

"Yes," he said.

"And you have to--"

"Yes."

"Want me to hold onto your bow?" she asked looking down at the case he held by his side.

Uryuu followed her gaze to the case he was holding by his side. He had just planned to stash the bow somewhere while he fought the Hollow and hope for the best but if she was willing to hold onto it that would save him a lot of trouble. She shifted her weight on her feet as she looked back at the Hollow, her lip catching between her teeth as she stared at the Hollow before looking back at him. Fear was a perfectly justifiable reaction to the monstrous creature lumbering towards town. He had felt fear when he had first seen Hollows but he'd known how to fight them. Seeing them without having any ability to combat them, he did not know how that would feel--only that it would probably be terrifying.

"Thank you," he said extending his hand towards her. She reached out and wrapped her hand around the case, "stay indoors," he said before he released the case.

"Stay in--is this one worse than the others?" she demanded.

"I do not know," he said, unwilling to lie to her as he felt a spike in the Spiritual Pressure of the area, "go quickly."

"Uryuu?" she demanded, fear coiling in the pit of her stomach, "what's going on?"

"I need to go," he said as he felt another Spiritual Power join the fight, "before this situation escalates further," he looked at her, "you need to go home quickly and stay inside," she said nothing, anger flaring in her eyes at being ordered to do something, "please," he added.

"Alright, alright _fine_!" she said loudly, "I'll do it but you'd better get your ass over to my house and tell me what the fuck I'm supposed to be doing here."

Uryuu nodded and turned to go.

"Uryuu!" he hesitated, "you still owe me."

He smiled and nodded before heading off. Tatsuki looked down at the bow she held in her hand before she raised her head to see Uryuu was already out of sight. Letting out a breath, she turned around and walked towards her house.

**

* * *

**

"Tatsuki, honey, are you feeling alright?"

Tatsuki looked up from the untouched food in front of her to see her mother looking at her worriedly. She had been picking at her food, barely eating any of it. Though she hated herself for feeling this way she knew that she was worried. Uryuu had gone off to fight. She'd felt the fighting as she'd gone home, all through doing homework and taking a shower. She'd always been aware of the fighting but now she really felt it. More than that though, she felt _who_ was fighting. The angry, emotion-fuled bursts belonged to Rukia, Ichigo and the other Shinigami. An even more volatile, brutal force was Sado's while the light hum was certainly Orihime's. But her attention had been focused on the hum of power she knew was Uryuu's. It changed, it warped but there was always a flow to it, as if he was drawing his power from some invisible well.

And just as she'd sat down to dinner, everything stopped.

Now she couldn't take a bite. Why was it all gone? Were they hurt or dying or worse? Underneath the sickening worry she realized that her worry was more for Uryuu than anyone else. She didn't even have time to be annoyed at the idea that she was so concerned for him. All he attention was on searching for the odd power she knew belonged to him. It was so unlike anything she felt in Karakura town that she thought she shouldn't have any problem finding it. But for the life of her she couldn't. the thought was sickening.

"Fine," she said picking listlessly at the food.

"You were late coming home," her mother tried again, "did you stay late at practice?"

"No," Tatsuki said, "I went to see Uryuu."

"Director Ishdia's son?" her mother asked. Tatsuki nodded, "he's a very nice boy," her mother continued, affection in her voice, "it would be so nice if he and his father worked out whatever's between them so he can move back to the neighborhood."

"Huh?" Tatsuki's head flew up as she looked at her mother.

"Tatsuki, don't tell me you don't remember," her mother said. Tatsuki shook her head, "Uryuu used to live just down the block. Before he left home, the poor thing," her mother shook her head, "he was such a sweet boy--"

"He still is," Tatsuki blurted out, "just because he doesn't live in this neighborhood--" she began defensively.

"Tatsuki I didn't mean anything by that," Mrs. Arisawa said, "darling are you sure you're alright?"

"No--Yes," Tatsuki shook her head, "may i be excused?"

"Of course. Why don't you go lay down for a while?"

Wordlessly Tatsuki nodded and stood up, trying to ignore the worry that still churned through her. He had to be alright, Tatsuki was sure he was going to be fine. After all, Uryuu was a good fighter--no, he was a great fighter. No matter how monstrous that thing was, he'd do just fine. But even in her own head the reassurances seemed empty. She needed to know he was alright. Even before when she hadn't known was Hollows or Shinigami or Quincy's were she'd been concerned for the people who fought. But now that she knew--now that she knew _Uryuu_ was one of them, the worry she felt was almost sickening. In more ways than one.

A knock sounded as she reached the stairs.

Tatsuki turned and pounded down the stairs. Before the person had time to knock again she reached out and grabbed the door, practically ripping it off it's hinges. Uryuu stood there, his hands by his sides. For a second Tatsuki was silent as she stared at him, shocked at the young man standing there. He seemed to be stunned to find himself there as well, almost as if he was in a daze. Neither moved, neither spoke. She barely managed to tear her eyes from his to scan him for injuries, only to find none. Somehow the fact was anything but comforting.

"Tatsuki? Whose at the door?" Mrs. Arisawa asked, coming around he door, "Ishida!" she smiled, "its wonderful to see you again, is everything alright?"

"Yes," Uryuu said, "I apologize for the late hour but I need to speak to your daughter."

"Of course," she said, "come in. Can I get you anything to eat?"

"No, thank you," Uryuu said.

"We're going upstairs," Tatsuki cut in before anyone else could say anything, "come on."

Wordlessly Uryuu nodded and followed her. Tatsuki led him up the stairs to her bedroom. The moment he entered he saw that it was her room. He doubted anyone else in the household had martial arts posters on their wall or a uniform thrown haphazardly over the chair. Just as in the other parts of the house he could see the tasteful signs of wealth in the make of the furniture and the handfuls of lace he could see crammed into the wardrobe. A flash of blue caught his eye and he wondered if that was the dress she'd worn the night of the ball or if it was something else. The sound of the door closing had him look over at Tatsuki. She'd changed her uniform for a sweater and black pants, the bright blue of the top oddly complimenting her skin tone. Uryuu realized that he'd never really seen her out of the school uniform or her karate one, or if he had it'd only been a handful of times.

"What happened?" Tatsuki demanded turning around and looking at him.

"The fight," he said, "it was harder than we'd thought."

"Is everyone okay?"

"Yes," he said.

Tatsuki nodded as she looked at him. Now that he was there, now that there was real and solid proof that he was safe, the worry slipped away as anger set it. She was angry at herself. She'd been worried about a guy, more worried than she thought she'd ever been. He fought all the time. What was she supposed to do? SIt home and worry if he was ever coming back? The thought disgusted her. She cared about him but she didn't want her life to revolve around what he was doing. Looking into his blue eyes, she opened her mouth and told him just that.

"I _hate_ worrying about people. And you know what? All this time, I was terrified for _you_! I couldn't eat--I washed my hair twice because all I could think was 'what if you were hurt'?"

Uryuu stared down at her, his mind lingering on the idea that she'd been thinking of him in the shower. She glared up at him, obviously just as confused and upset about the strange thoughts that were running through her head as he was. Neither was used to this. Worry, fighting, those were familiar. But to think only about a person, a singular other, that was strange. Was this how Ichigo felt when he went to fight without Rukia--or with her? If so, Uryuu wondered how he managed to do anything. The feelings he felt, they were crippling. The dull, residual throb of his shoulder only cemented the fact. Looking down at her, he realized that she had been honest with him and he, at the very least, owed her honesty in return.

"I thought of you," he blurted out. Tatsuki's eyes widened, "on the battlefield. My thoughts, they were of you," he stopped before continuing, "it was hard, to fight," he finished, realizing how pathetic the words were.

"What are we supposed to do?" she asked looking up at him, uncertainty shining in her eyes, "we can't keep doing whatever--" she motioned between them, "whatever this is. Not without one of us getting hurt."

"The practical thing would be--"

"For you to go," she said, "right?"

"I--" Uryuu stopped and shook his head, "no. Unfortunately even if I leave now. It will not be practical in this situation," he met her eyes squarely, "i would not be able to stop thinking of you. You have scarcely left my thoughts since the dance."

"You didn't know that was me," she said, her voice soft.

"No," he agreed, "but I was very glad it was you."

Tatsuki swallowed thickly, not realizing until that moment how much she had wanted to hear that. She hadn't been glad that it was Uryuu, not back then. But if it had to be someone she knew, she was glad that it was him. He looked back at her through the light reflecting off his glasses and Tatsuki knew in that instant that if he left it would be a mistake. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she knew that the heat she felt was not from the fact they were both indoors. Before she could let the slightly practical voice in the back of her head say otherwise, Tatsuki reached out towards the door and turned the lock.

"Tatsuki?" he looked at her, knowing what she was doing but scarcely believing it himself, "what are you--" he began.

"Uryuu?" she cut him off.

"Yes?"

"Shut up," she said grabbing his collar and pulling him down.

She kissed him hungrily, her mouth devouring his. For a second Uryuu's arms were limp by his sides, too shocked at the sensation of _being_ kissed to move. Then as though someone had flicked a switch in his brain he kissed her back, his arms wrapping around her and pulling her closer to him. Heat replaced the lingering coolness from the outdoors. Her fingers tightened in the fabric of his jacket as she continued to kiss him. His hand found the edge of her sweater. Tatsuki inhaled sharply as his fingers slipped underneath the fabric, discovering nothing but skin there. His touch began as gentle, soft even as she felt the callouses on his hand. But soon his fingers were digging into her back as she tugged the zipper of his jacket down. Tatsuki gasped softly into the kiss at the coolness of his hand as his fingers slid across her lower back.

Tugging down the jacket he wore, Tatsuki felt the simple cotton of the t-shirt underneath. She realized she hadn't really seen him in anything so simple and for some reason the idea that Uryuu Ishida wore plain white t-shirts both amused her and made the heat she felt increase. She slid her hands under his jacket, intent on pushing it off him when her fingers pressed into his shoulderblade. He inhaled sharply, his lips leaving hers abruptly and Tatsuki felt her eyes fly open as she looked up at him, pulling her hands back.

"You're hurt," she said, unable to stop the accusation in her tone.

"Its a bruise," he said, "Inoue was required for more serious injuries--"

"Oh my God we've been--" she motioned between them, "and you've been _hurt_?" she shook her head.

"Its nothing," he said.

"Yeah, right," she shot back, "sit down and take your shirt off," Uryuu looked at her, surprised but she just glared back up at him, "I was about to take it off you anyway."

"Before I do," he said looking at her feeling suddenly strange, "I have scars."

"So?" she said walking over to her desk and rummaging around until she found a identical green tin almost identical to the one she'd given him, "I've seen scars before."

"Not like these," he said, surprised at how quickly the lust that had taken him was leaving.

Tatsuki put her hands on her hips and glared at him. Uryuu knew she was trying to help, just as he knew what her reaction would be upon seeing what he looked like under his shirt. It was strange to think just how much she wished she was like them when he knew that a part of him would give anything to be like her. He'd seen his father's face when he'd looked at him after returning from the Fake Karakura Town and his father had experience with Quincy's. But Tatsuki, she had none. He didn't know if he'd ever be truly ready to show her what lay underneath the clothing he wore--what he'd taken such great lengths to hide, especially from his friends. But she was unrelenting and she would see, sooner or later. Feeling oddly vulnerable, Uryuu reached out and shrugged off his jacket, laying it on the chair. Fingering the bottom of his shirt, he forced himself to pull the garment over his head and expose his torso to her.

Tatsuki stifled the sharp inhale that caught in her throat.

She'd seen scars before, of all shapes and sizes, but she'd never seen _anything_ like this. His left arm was literally a mess of scars, riddled like she'd seen with electric burns. The same scaring was on his right arm but to a far less impressive degree. His chest bore lines as well. A large mark, shaped almost like a star was etched into the skin just beside his heart. A line cut its way across his abdomen while his ribcage bore three sets of what looked like claw marks. She saw a line on his left side that peered above the edge of his pants but clearly went much lower than she could see. When he turned around in addition to the bruise she saw two scarred patches of skin on his shoulder blades and a series of what could only be whip marks decorating his spine.

Tatsuki didn't even try to speak as he sat down in the chair with his back to her. Opening the tin of the numbing salve, she rubbed her fingers in the stuff before turning to his back. The red, angry area that would become a bruise was visible even against the scar. Slowly Tatsuki reached out and touched it. She heard him inhale sharply but whether it was from pain or the sensation of being touched on his back, she didn't know. Biting her lip she focused on rubbing the salve in, her touch as gentle as she could make it. She knew it took effect but the tension in his back remained. Keeping her hand in motion over the area, Tatsuki looked at the array of scars on his back and found her voice.

"Where did this one come from?" she asked, her voice soft.

"I fell," he said, his tone tight.

"I meant the scar," she said.

"Oh," he paused for a moment before answering, "Quincy armor, it burned right through my robes," Tatsuki nodded as her fingers left the area, touching his back, "sparring," he said, "with my father, I was careless."

"Are they whip marks?" she asked.

"Arrows," he said. Tatsuki nodded as she moved her hand up, her fingers ghosting the scar on his left arm, "my bow," he said, "physical side effect. All Quincy's have it."

She nodded slowly as Uryuu fought to keep in control. He went through great lengths to cover his scars. It was one of the issues with being a Quincy and doing the things he did. But it was an honor as well. There was an old Quincy proverb that said that "scars were stories written on skin" and he believed that. Orihime's healing was focused towards immediate wounds, fresh ones and between that and the fact he was rarely the only person who needed healing, his scars had survived much. Still none of the Shinigami he'd grudgingly accepted as friends bore scars. Their physical bodies were rarely involved in any sort of fighting. Modest by nature, it hadn't taken much for him to cover up the scars that decorated him. He always forgot how many he had until someone saw them--something that did not occur very often.

But with Tatsuki's hands, still warm from their kiss, he was having trouble keeping in control of himself.

It felt strange, how her fingers trailed from the healthy skin to the scarred one. Sensation followed in their wake and Uryuu felt something inside him tighten at the feeling. Her hands were calloused, their movements slow, methodical even. When she came around to his front, his eyes moved up to meet hers. Her lips were still swollen, her hair still mussed. But her eyes were the most crippling. Still dark with lust, she clearly wasn't disgusted by his scars. He was helpless to look away as she moved her hand across his shoulder to the plane of his chest, her fingers coming to rest on the scar that had given him back his power.

"I lost my power. My father performed a--" his breath hitched as her finger trailed across one of the lines, "a ritual," he got out, "to return my powers," her fingers fitted themselves to the claw marks on his side, "Hollow," he said, his breath caught in his throat.

"And this one?" she asked, laying her hand on his hip.

"Tatsuki," her name was somehow both a prayer and a curse on his lips as he leaned forward and tugged her mouth down to his.

Tatsuki kissed him back eagerly, her body moving forward to press against his. She was taller now, thanks to him sitting and her standing and the change in height was exhilarating. Her fingers dug into his hip as his slid under the fabric of her jacket to press against her spine. His glasses bumped her cheek before they were swiftly discarded somewhere on her desk as his hand found its way into her hair. Her other hand gripped his shoulder, fingers digging into the skin. Her entire body felt hot and her head was spinning as he kissed her, all logical thought running out of her head as swiftly as the strength in her knees. Who would have thought underneath that prudish, high collar exterior Uryuu was hiding such a side to himself? But there was still the boy she'd known all her life in the way his hands stayed firmly at her mid back and the way he made no move to mark the skin of her neck.

A part of Tatsuki thought she could kiss him forever. The larger part of her knew that kissing was the beginning and that what was going to happen next wasn't something either of them were prepared for. Uryuu seemed to know it too. Slowly he pulled away, his lips lingering against hers as though pulling away was painful to do.

"I should leave," he said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"Yeah," Tatsuki said exhaling and shaking her head, "before we--" she motioned between her disarrayed state and his.

Uryuu nodded and slowly stood up, reaching for his shirt and pulling it on before shrugging on his jacket. Tatsuki ran her hand through her hair and did her best to tug down her jacket. Reaching over she picked his glassed off the desk and held them out to him. He took them, carefully putting them on and pushing them up the bridge of his nose. Tatsuki shifted on the balls of her feet as she looked up at him, his eyes meeting hers.

"So," she began, "any ideas on what we're supposed to do now?"

"Yes," he said walking over to her. She looked up at him as he bent his head and kissed her, this one almost chaste, "I will see you in school tomorrow."

Barely able to comprehend how a simple press of lips could make her feel so dizzy, Tatsuki nodded as Uryuu unlocked the door and walked out of her room. She heard him bid farewell to her parents before leaving. Tatsuki barely made it over to the bed before she all but collapsed onto it. She didn't even hear her mother coming up the stairs or coming to stand in the doorway of her room.

"Ishida just left," she informed her daughter, "he is a very nice boy," Tatsuki said nothing, "will we be seeing more of him?" her mother asked tentatively.

"God, I hope so," Tatsuki replied breathlessly.

* * *

**Okay! Well here you go, a chapter like I promised. Now this chapter was born out of a conversation with someone who said that Uryuu's GOT to have some serious scar-age. Also, notice how he's always covered up? Well since he's human I could see him getting scarred up by what's happening. Battle scars are considered marks of pride in some cultures. As for the Quincy proverb "scars are stories written on skin", that was something that was said to me when I got the biggest of my scars from leg surgery. Seriously the thing takes up most of my left leg. I've got others but that's the most intense. now I love it but when I first saw it I was freaked out. **

**Anyway thanks for all the reviews! I seriously felt weird when I was writing the archery scene last chapter, like I was plagiarizing myself! But the two worked out very differently. So I doubt I'll do another update before 2010 but as always, I never say never.**

**Remember, you review, I update!**

**So review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Uryuu Ishida was not a man prone to nervousness.

Exams, saving the world, defying his father and moving out of his house--none of it had made his palms sweat. And yet sitting at his desk, Uryuu could not help but be nervous. He had not spoken to Tatsuki since the night before when they had, well, made out. It had only been one night but this was uncharted territory for the young Quincy. It was a question of being prepared. He could be prepared to avert the end of the world, to take and exam . He had even been prepared to defy his father and move out of the house. But to figure out what a Tatsuki was going to do when she walked through the doors of the classroom, that he had no idea and no way to be prepared for it.

Was she going to be angry? Or upset? Or was she just going to deny it had even happened? Uryuu didn't know that he could take that. It had been hard enough when she had refused to have anything to do with him when they had just danced together. But between the archery and the kissing, Uryuu had serious doubts he'd be able to deal with her denying that anything had happened between them. He glanced over his shoulder at the clock on the wall. They had five minutes before class started. Most of the students were already in the classroom but Tatsuki's desk was still empty. Was she just not going to come to school today? He heard the teacher's higher heeled shoes on the hallway floor, a sign that class was going to being early whether Tatsuki was there or not.

The sound of shoes squeaking on the ground in a rapid pattern made it impossible the person was doing anything but running was both a relieving and terrifying for Uryuu. He could think about what was going to happen without any sort of problem, turn it over again and again in his mind. But if she was there than that meant that he was going to get the answers to his question, whether he wanted to or not. Sure enough Tatsuki skidded around the corner, bracing her hands against the door to stop her skidding before running over to the unoccupied desk next to him and dropping into it, throwing her bag to the side as the teacher rounded the corner and stepped into the room. The teacher glanced at Tatsuki with faint amusement before placing her case on the desk and beginning to talk.

Uryuu ventured a look at Tatsuki out of the corner of his eye. Her chest was heaving and her hair was even more mussed than usual, The neck of her uniform was open, her tie askew and Uryuu could see one of her shoelaces was undone as well. Tatsuki pushed herself up, running a hand through her hair to try--if Uryuu didn't know better than to think Tatsuki was fixing her hair. With the same slightly subtle but precise movements Tatasuki fixed her shirt and adjusted her neck tie, though she did not try to do up the neck all the way. He saw her glance down at her shoe before she bent down and did up the lace. Pushing herself up she turned back up and looked at the teacher as she began to teach.

She had been running late for reasons she couldn't quite place and though she'd barely gotten to the classroom even at a dead run, Tatsuki still couldn't help but wish she'd taken a mental health day and gotten yelled at for it. She could feel Uryuu looking at her out of the corner of her eye but she had no idea how she was supposed to act around him. This was all new territory for her. She had no idea what she was supposed to say to him or to act around him. She really wanted nothing more than to turn around and make some acidic comment about something that was going on but a part of her told her that she should do something else, something girly. Like she should flip her hair or wink or do--god knew what. Whatever it was that girls did in situations like this. She waited until she couldn't feel his eyes on her before she glanced at him but that did nothing to help her figure out what she was supposed to do now.

When lunch came both were so exhausted from turning over their predicament endlessly in their heads that they had no real strength left to figure out how they were supposed to act around each other given what had happened between the two of them.

"I totally thought she was going to yell her head off at me when I skidded through the room," Tatsuki said, "thought i was gonna wipe out too," she added with a grin, tapping her shoe on the ground.

"That would have been unfortunate," Uryuu said.

"Which? The falling or the yelling?" Tatsuki asked.

"Both," Uryuu said, "is there a particular reason you were late?"

"Dramatic effect," Tatsuki said standing up, "I'm starved. Lets go eat."

Uryuu nodded and got to his feet. Together they walked down the hallway trading words on what had happened during the day. It was comfortable, pleasant and made absolutely no attempt to talk about what had happened the evening and night before. Both thought of it but neither wanted to be the first to talk about what had happened between them. They got through their entire lunch without mentioning it and only when they were halfway back to the classroom did Uryuu finally broach the topic.

"Are we going to talk about what happened?" he asked.

"What? The part where you taught me to shoot, got your ass kicked or we made out?"

"I did not get my ass kicked," Uryuu muttered pushing his glass up on his nose, "and the making out was--" he struggled for the right word, "it was the culmination of much more than just--"

"Hormones?" Tatsuki interjected.

Uryuu looked supremely displeased at the idea that hormones wee the cause of what they had shared. Not simply because, well, Uryuu considered himself to be above the level of teenagers reduced to what they had done purely by hormones but far more because, well, Uryuu thought that it was more than hormones that made the two of them crash into each other like they had. Looking at her he couldn't believe that she thought it was just hormones that made them do what they had. Maybe she didn't, but she did seem more than prepared to chalk it up to that if the glint in her eyes--Uryuu stopped himself. The way she was looking at him, glint and all, made him think that she wasn't preparing to write it off. If anything she looked, well, amused.

Tatsuki was amused, but not at what Uryuu had said. She was amused at the disgusted look on his face, like they hadn't been making out like crazy the night before. She had a feeling Uryuu thought he was above teenage hormones. Sometimes it was easy to forget that most of the time Uryuu didn't act like a teenager, he acted like an adult. She guessed that there was something to that, considering that he lived alone and saved the world on a daily basis. She didn't know what that was like and for some reason that didn't bother her as much. This was teenage stuff, stuff she understood while Uryuu was the one flying blind. Finally she sighed and shook her head at the confusion in his eyes.

"Uryuu," she said, "look," she paused for a moment before continuing, "obviously the running's not going to work."

"Yes," Uryuu agreed, relieved, "especially since you keep coming back."

"Hey!" Tatsuki said hotly, though the smile didn't slip off her lips, "so," she looked at her toes briefly before looking back up at him, "what do you want to do? I mean, I don't want to be like--you know, those people who have to spend every second touching and kissing."

"No," Uryuu agreed, "that would be--"

"Disgusting?" she supplied.

"I suppose," he said thinking of the other couples in their class who seemed to make an effort to let the world know they were together and how much effort that seemed to take, "we could continue as we have been--without the running part."

"You're not going to let that go, are you?" she asked crossing her arms as Uryuu felt his lips quirk up in a smile, "alright, fine. We'll keep going and see where we end up."

Uryuu nodded and stepped to the side to let Tatsuki pass through the doors first on their way to class. She raised an eyebrow in his direction at the display of chivalry but Uryuu only stood there. She might have taken issue with his display of manners and he with her effort to hide any trace of them but he had every faith they would work it out eventually. Finally with a shake of her head Tatsuki stepped into the classroom and he followed her. They walked over to their desks where Tatsuki dropped into the seat and he lowered himself with far more grace.

"You know you don't have to _block_ the door," she told him, "I'm not going anywhere."

"I--"

"And besides," she said leaning back in her chair and crossing her ankles, "if I wanted to I'd just kick your ass and do it anyway."

Uryuu couldn't hep but smile at the bright grin she flashed his way.

* * *

**Many Years Later**

**

* * *

**

Tatsuki Arisawa had no time to stand outside the doors and consider that this was a bad idea.

She was late.

Hiking up the silk of her dress she pounded up the stairs as fast as her bare feet would let her. Everyone was already inside which was both a blessing and a curse A blessing because they could not see her running up the stairs in bare feet, a curse because that meant that everything had already started. She could already see the look on her mother's face when she got inside. It wasn't her fault that practice had run late--thus throwing everything off--but that wasn't going to be an excuse. Not tonight. Not right now. Reaching the top step, Tatsuki yanked on her heels, instantly gaining height. Pausing for a moment she brushed her hands down the grey silk of her dress, making sure the fabric lay smooth and flat as well as giving her a minute to catch her breath. Her hair was pulled back and held in place with a diamond clip--and a hundred other half seen pins. A quick check of her lipstick revealed a flawlessly made up face, no mask to hide behind tonight but she had no problem with that. Her one night as the mysterious Cinderella had been enough to last a lifetime.

"You're late."

Biting back a swear, Tatsuki twisted around to see someone leaning against one of the columns, his hands tucked neatly into the pockets of his pressed tuxedo. He looked perfect, as he tended to do, wearing the black tuxedo without any sort of discomfort, despite the fact she knew he hated the thing with every bone in his body. Worse though, he'd witnessed everything from her running up in her bare feet to the hop she had to do to get the other shoe on. Behind the steel rimmed spectacles she easily saw the amusement he wasn't letting show on his lips. Left with no other choice she planet her feet and crossed her arms over her chest, fixing him with a glare that had made far more intimidating men quake but seemed to have absolutely no effect on him.

"Yeah, well--" she glared harder, "you're lucky I'm here at all. I was about to stay home and just blow this disaster off."

"So, what changed your mind?"

"Funniest thing," she said, "I remembered that there was this dashing man here who hated these damn things as much as I did and, you know, misery loves companions."

"Ah," he said with a nod, "and this man, is it anyone I know?"

"Oh you might," she said with a smile, stepping forward, "he's tall, black hair, glasses--probably looking utterly miserable at the moment since his father practically blackmailed him into going to this thing even though he's a grown man"

"You know," he said, "I do believe I saw someone fitting that description. He looked as though he was waiting for someone," he continued as she stopped when she was right in front of him, "perhaps his very late fiance?"

"You knew I was prone to lateness when you asked me to marry you," she said with a quirk of her lips, "and besides, you're out here which makes you officially late as well."

"Yes--well--" he began.

"Yes--well--" she mimicked before she leaned forward and silenced his sputtering with her lips.

The banter was something that they had not been able to stop--not that either had really tried--in all their years of seeing each other, but it usually did end with one of them coming up with a way to declare themselves the victor. Even in the high shoes she wore, Uryuu did have to lean down slightly to kiss his petite fiance after he had undergone a growth spurt just out of high school and she, much to her anger, had remained exactly the same size. Even so she fit perfectly against him as his arms twined about her waist, pulling her closer to him as her own arms went about his shoulders. Finally they pulled apart, before they could go further down the familiar path that kissing led them on.

"We should go inside," Uryuu said, though he was loathed to do it, "as a surgeon--"

"Your father's gonna want you in there," Tatsuki said smoothing the silk of her dress. "And I'm sure they're going to just _love_ announcing our engagement to everyone who walks through those doors."

"Well that I do not have a problem with," Uryuu said, looking at the ring on her finger.

"No," Tatsuki agreed finally, "I guess that part's not so bad."

Uryuu smiled at that and offered her his arm. With a smile of her own, Tatsuki took it.

And they walked through the doors of Karakura Town Hospital's Annual Gala.

Together.

* * *

**And that concludes "Escape Me"!**

**The longer thank you, playlist etc chapter will be coming out soon but I gotta get to class right now, I just wanted to give you guys the end of the story.**

**PLEASE READ THIS: **

**I know this isn't an epic. Its like 6 chapters but I just wanted to take it from point A to point B, to them getting together. The epilogue was kind of a bonus thing I threw in there. I know you have a right to your opinion and me to mine but this story IS A SHORT ONE. That means it was just to take it to them getting together. THAT IS IT! So please don't bombard me with comments on how you thought there should be more. EVERY chapter has said that this is a SHORT STORY. i didn't get bored, i didn't decide to cut it there, this story was NEVER supposed to be long which is why they figure out who the other is within the first two chapters! I don't want a repeat of the "Shuffle" scenario where everyone kept being upset because it was so short. These are SHORT stories. I've got plenty of epics, these aren't them. So please please PLEASE don't get all upset because there's only 6 chapters and it doesn't end with them running off into the sunset happily ever after after years of drama and angst and what have you. So while I do want reviews, I don't want to get them with people commenting on the length. ITS SHORT, I KNOW. **

**If you guys are interested in a longer story then REVIEW this one. Or PM/IM me. But especially review. That's how I know people are interested. **

**I'm off to class. You guys have fun and I'll have the thank yous/ playlist chapter up later!  
**


	7. Thank Yous, Playlist etc

**And that officially concludes "Escape Me"!**

**So I've been asked about how I came up with the idea of the pairing since its pretty unique--even by my standards--and the truth is that when I was writing "Shuffle" I needed to pair Uryuu up for the plot to work and he just seemed to fit with Tatsuki. Especially because they seemed to fit really well together, and had the same kind of balance that Ulquiorra and Orihime have.**

**So for those of you familiar with my work, you know at the end of the fic I usually include a list of the songs that have been associated with the story through its production:**

**Escape Me - - Testio feat. CC Sheffield**

**This would be kind of the theme of the story, mainly because it was stuck in my head the entire time I wrote this thing. But it fits very well with how Tatsuki and Uryuu are stuck in what they've made themselves and both kind of have to escape that to be together.**

**You Belong With Me - - Taylor Swift**

**I chose this song because, well, it totally sums up the relationship in my head between Tatsuki and Uryuu. Especially with the whole Ichihime dynamic.**

**For You From Me - - Jon McLaughlin**

**Another great song about dealing with the baggage the two of them carry and accepting each other, secrets and all.**

**Amas Veritas - - Alan Silvestri**

**One of the most perfect pieces of 'end' music ever. Especially for this story, it fits perfectly with the epilogue and the whole fancy party thing.**

**Okay now the specific thank yous!**

**To everyone who reviewed, pm'd and im'd me telling me you liked this fic, THANK YOU!! Especially with the more outlandish couples like this those are even more important and make me want to write crazy pairings like this one!**

**DaWuffy whose crazy enthusiasm not only made my day, it made me want to update all the faster.**

**bladeshark/kaizphoenix for telling me how much they liked the fic on this site AND on DA.**

**Nagasasu who took time from plugging away at the epic Toro Nagashi to read and review this one.**

**AlleluiaElizabeth, Haddrell, Greyfalcon and the others over at the Uryuu/Tatsuki FC on Bleach Asylum who let me know this pairing not only had fans, they were pretty awesome fans as well.**

**Pendragon1, Chaos Dragon, Minizuki's Star, Stelra Etnae, Kohryu, Shinkicker, Amethyst, Darkmeadow, Dominican Kitsune, , Lobaa and all the other awesome readers who came over from my other Bleach work and figured they'd give this crazy pairing a shot. You guys are just the best readers an author could ask for and the fact you take time to review and try even the crazier of my stories just means more to me than you'll ever know.**

**So that's it! I'm tossing around ideas for a longer fic and I'll let you know when that happens! Remember this pairing is in "Shuffle" and "Step", both of which include Ulquihime.**

**Thanks again!**

**Remember to keep reviewing, I'll keep writing!**

**Love,**

**Enchantable**


	8. Pelorus

**You asked for it and so....**

**Its up! **

**The longer epic is called "Pelorus" and it is now on my profile page! **

**I promise this will be far more satisfying and the ending will be much less abrupt!**

**So go check it out!**

**Enchantable **


End file.
